


In the Dreamland, Reality blurs

by San121



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Female Byleth is with Claude, I'm Sorry, I'm a little mean to Dimitri, M/M, Male Byleth is with Dimitri, Multi, Oh look, Porn now, Soulmates share a dreamscape, That second one is less important than the first, Trying to bring the right people to justice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21779746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/San121/pseuds/San121
Summary: Byleth knows his soulmate is out there somewhere, but it's been five years since his last Souldream. One day, he brushes against his soulmate while hanging out with his sister's soulmate, and is tossed into a mystery that started just as their connection does. Unbalanced and worried.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Mercedes von Martritz, Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan, Sylvain Jose Gautier/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 20
Kudos: 238





	1. To Share a Dream

Soulmates share dreams. It’s a universal truth, like gravity and bread falling butter side down. If you have a soulmate, you’ll share dreams with them. Usually, these dreams take the form of some kind of world, created from interests and homelives between the two. People willing to share their dreams have spoken about mystical worlds or simple small towns or bustling cities or elegant castles. However, most keep their dreams to themselves, only sharing it with their soulmate and _maybe_ their family. After all, the dreams are reflections of the souls and minds of the pair. If one is damaged, the connection could snap.

* * *

Byleth wakes up in a tent, confused as to why he’s woken up somewhere that isn’t the RV that he shares with his dad and sister. Sitting up, he looks around curiously, certain he just went to sleep on his side of the dining table, not directly beside someone, and _definitely_ not beside his twin sister.

“By? Why you ‘wake?” Lilith mumbles, blinking up blearily at her twin. Byleth blinks down at her, wondering the same thing, even though he just went to sleep.

“Kids, time to get up,” Dad calls from outside the tent. Lilith gives her tired sigh, before clawing her way out of the blanket nest she sleeps in. Byleth follows not too far after her, his mouth twitching downward at the light of the campfire before him. Dad is wearing a weird outfit, one that looks like the picture in the history books of Fodlan Dad keep in the upper cubby of the “family” wardrobe. With the furs and leather, Dad looks more like a fighter, like he’s lived through battles.

“I know it’s early, but we need to get up early to make it to Winter on schedule,” he huffs, stomping over to their tent and pressing his hand against the material.

‘ _Oh_ ,’ Byleth thinks as the tent vanishes, ‘ _I’m dreaming_.’ Silently, he follows Lilith and Dad, surrounded by a bunch of people without faces (literally, Byleth looked up at one person and there was a smooth surface where their face was supposed to be), wrapped up in a jacket he doesn’t remember putting on. They travel through wooded areas, where snow is piled thickly around the trail they’re following. Byleth blinks as snowflakes fall into his snowflakes.

“By, look,” Lilith whispers, pointing. He looks up, and up and _up_. The giant castle before them is decorated in blue banners with a lion on it, swaying in the wind that pushes around the snow still falling.

“It’s big,” he comments, Lilith nodding in agreement as she grabs his hand. He gives her hand a squeeze as they continue to follow Dad, stepping in his boot prints. They quickly arrive at the castle gates, where Dad bangs his fist against the metal. Byleth blinks and cocks his head to the side as the gate rises and a royal looking man steps forward, a little -boy? Girl?- kid following in his foot prints.

“Welcome, Jeralt the Blade Breaker, to Winter. I am King Lambert, and this is my son, Dimitri,” he introduces, encouraging his son to step out from behind him. Dimitri shyly looks at them before bowing quickly and hiding back behind his father. Dad snorts in amusement, ushering Byleth and Lilith forward.

“These are my children, Byleth and Lilith. Go say hi to Dimitri while I talk to the king,” Dad tells them, pushing them toward the young prince. Lilith nods to Dimitri while Byleth awkwardly waves, unsure how to take the nervous look Dimitri is giving the two of them. The blond boy waves back, his head snapping to the side as the king leads Dad away, biting his bottom lip nervously. Lilith elbows Byleth’s ribs, making him hiss in pain and give his twin a glare. She raises an eyebrow in reply, his eyes flicker toward Dimitri and back to her, she sighs and shakes her head, shoving him right into the prince before storming off. Byleth tries to catch himself, but Dimitri manages to catch him with a surprised yelp. Even in the dream, Byleth feels sparks alight his skin where Dimitri is touching him, the blond seeming to feel those sparks as well.

“…You’re my soulmate,” Dimitri states, his big blue eyes looking at Byleth with awe. Byleth nods in reply, his mouth twitching in his attempt to smile from the happiness he feels. Dimitri beams at him, clasping his hand and dragging him in to the castle garden, while snow softly falls around them.

* * *

“That is the most disgustingly sweet dream I’ve ever heard of,” Claude declares, shoving a chocolate-covered granola bar into his mouth. Byleth shrugs, knowing that even seventeen years later, he’s still going to blush from the memory of his first souldream. Claude snorts around his “breakfast”, chewing fairly noisily on the bar as he digs through his shoulder bag.

“Lilith and my first souldream wasn’t that cute. That’s so unfair,” he complains while pulling out a notebook and writing down all the information Byleth just told him about Dimitri. Byleth snorts, taking a sip of his coffee while they start to head toward campus from where the off-site dorms are.

“To be fair, your dream was hilarious,” he points out. Claude grins as he recalls their first souldream, where he accused Lilith of being a succubus and she punched him in the nose.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he agrees with a nod. They pause at a crosswalk, still snickering at the memory of the souldream that brought Claude and Lilith together. The little man in the light goes from orange to white, they step off the corner while Claude holds out his notebook.

“So, I’ve been thinking-” Claude starts, only to be interrupted when a blond man bumps into Byleth, who bumps into Claude. While his friend yelps and angrily demands to know what the problem was to the man who’s rushing away, Byleth feels like his whole body is lighting up like shitty little led Christmas tree that Dad still has in the RV. Electricity and chills run up and down his body like his fingers when he played the guitar, like when Lilith played the violin with him, like when Dimitri taught him to play the piano through their souldream. Everything seemed to focus on the color blue, a darker, richer color than the sky. The blue of Dimitri’s eyes.

“Byleth?” Claude calls, snapping Byleth out of his overstimulation. He breaths heavily, turning his head to try and catch a glimpse of the man who had caused it, to ask, to _beg_ for his name. However, he can’t see the mess of blond hair the man had. Claude sighs and drags him quickly across the road, even as the crosswalk has over thirty seconds left.

“Now, like I was- shit,” he groans, realizing his notebook is no longer in his hand. Byleth, finally able to focus on something other than trying to find the other man, sees Claude’s notebook sitting in the middle of the crossroad.

“I got it,” Byleth sighs, hurrying back out and grabbing the notebook while the clock ticks down to ten seconds.

“Shit! BY! MOVE!” Claude yells, startling Byleth. His first instinct is to look both ways on the road, letting him see the car speeding through the light on the other side of the road, straight toward him. He freezes, practically cemented where he stands, when the blond man reappears and shoves him out of the way. Byleth turns his head and sees dark blue eyes looking at him before his head collides with the road and the man is struck by the car.


	2. A Beginning that Worries

Groaning, Byleth blinks awake to a forest canopy overhead. Furrowing his brow, he looks around in confusion, rising onto his elbows. The beautiful, blooming forest around him would normally feel peaceful to him, but he knows he was in the middle of the city just seconds ago.

“You finally woke up,” he hears Lilith say from his right. Confused, he turns his head and snorts.

“You look like a stripper,” he tells her, looking up and down at her short shorts and lacy tights along with the most bizarrely cut shirt that he’s ever seen.

“And you look like an idiot,” she replies, holding her hand out for him to take. Accepting her hand, Byleth reluctantly agrees. While far more practical than his sister’s outfit, the black armor with pink pipping is still a bizarre look for him. He frowns down at his armor, poking at his own chest.

“Do you think I can get rid of this?” he asks, pointing at the pipping. Lilith shrugs when another person appears behind her.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally woke up,” Claude teases, looking both regal and dumb at the same time. Byleth leans back and blinks at the garish golden-yellow Claude’s outfit is primarily made from. Lilith pats his shoulder soothingly, nodding in understanding, when two more people appear.

“Oh my! Will he be able to help us?” the taller woman asks, her garb reminding Byleth of a nun, just wearing tan and brown instead of black and white. The smaller woman, dressed in complimentary teal and orange, practically bounces as she shoves her face into Byleth’s personal space.

“He’s gotta be able to! You can practically feel the magic rolling off him! He’s been blessed by the Fairy Queen!” the small woman practically cheers, only to almost trip over her own feet in her excitement. Byleth sends a confused look to Lilith, who simply shrugs again. The twins turn in unison to look at Claude for information. The man gives them a helpless shrug himself, before turning back to the women.

“Hey, the Eisners need you to introduce yourselves,” Claude tells the women with a raised eyebrow, obviously amused about their interactions. The taller woman covers her mouth in realization while the smaller gasps, her face turning red.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I’m Annette, the cinnamon witch. And this is Mercedes, she’s a sugar healer,” the shorter woman, Annette, introduces. Mercedes smiles and bows to the twins, giggling sweetly.

“Byleth,” he introduces himself, before motioning to his sister, “Lilith.” Claude raises an eyebrow in interest while Lilith nods at group once.

“It took us finding your brother for us to get your name?” he asks, putting his hand on his hip and cocking his head. Lilith turns her gaze from the women to Claude, unimpressed with his attitude.

“You didn’t introduce yourself first,” she points out. Claude chuckles, nodding sheepishly as he scratches the back of his head. Clearing his throat, Claude straightens himself and gives the twins a sweeping bow.

“I am Claude von Riegan, heir to the land of Summer and the land of Spring. However, my inheritance isn’t why I- _we_ have sought you out,” he starts to explain. The twins share another look, knowing that they’re going to be looking for someone or something. They turn back to the young lord and nod in tandem, getting a chuckle from Claude. Mercedes steps forward, a look of concern taking over the motherly face she seems to naturally settle in.

“We’re looking for the Prince of Winter. He’s gone missing and we need to find him to stop the Sorceress Cornelia,” she explains, looking at them imploringly. Byleth frowns, something about her request ringing familiarly to him, while Lilith huffs and puts her hands on her hips.

“We’re looking for our father. He went off for a job and didn’t come back,” Lilith tells them, her way of trying to turn someone down gently while reminding Byleth of what they need to do. Annette bounces, leaning forward while shaking her fists up and down.

“Well, we can look for both of them, together! That way, there’s more people looking and we can cover more ground,” she offers excitedly. Turning to his twin, Byleth raises an eyebrow in question. Lilith sighs, nodding before looking at him and shaking her head. He pouts, kicking the ground before a thought occurs and he looks at her with alight eyes. Her eyebrows shoot up in understanding, cocking her head to the side in thought before she nods again.

“I have no idea what is going on, but I think it’s good?” Claude loudly whispers to Mercedes. The twins quickly turn their heads to give the Lord a deadpan stare. His hands immediately go up in surrender.

“We’ll help,” Byleth tells them before Lilith can verbally attack the Lord. The trio perks up at his words while Lilith sighs and turns to him with a pout. He shakes his head with a small smile and motions for her to start following the trio as they begin to walk off. Before he can take a step, Byleth freezes at the feeling of eyes on him. Slowly, he turns, eyes scanning the forest for who or what could be looking at him, only to freeze. Hidden in the shadow, a single blue eye stares at him. The owner of the eye is hunched over, but Byleth can tell that the being would easily tower over him. He stands, frozen, staring back at the being. Slowly, the being creeps closer, the shadow edging away to let Byleth see that the being is a man.

“Hey! We need to go!” Claude yells, causing Byleth to jump and turn his head quickly. The lord waves at him while Lilith and the other women look back curiously. Byleth nods sharply, turning back to ask the man to join them when he realizes that he’s gone. Blinking, Byleth sighs and shakes his head before following the small group.

“So, what should we be looking for?” Lilith asks, drawing her sword to cut through some vegetation.

“Blond man with blue eyes,” Claude says. Byleth and Lilith both wait for more information, only for no more to come from him. Annette sighs in irritation while Mercedes giggles, obviously amused with Claude’s lack of information.

“What he means to say is the last time the Prince of Winter was seen was five years ago. It’s possible that he’s grown, but there’s been enough glimpses of him that we know he’s alive,” Annette tells the twins, giving the Lord an admonishing glare. Claude chuckles and raises his hands in surrender once again. The twins look at each other and shrug.

“We’ve found people on less,” Lilith tells them while Byleth nods once. The trio nods and walks ahead, leaving the twins to speak quietly behind them.

“It might be him,” Lilith comments, her hand reaching out to give his a reassuring squeeze. Byleth returns the squeeze with a nod before jogging to catch up with the trio.

* * *

They walk through the forest for about two hours, trying to get out of the Spring forest to enter Summer. Claude has started trying to get Lilith to speak with him more than sighs and annoyed grunts (reminding Byleth of when they finally met in real life, Lilith reverting to completely non-verbal due to being overwhelmed with how affectionate Claude is), pouting when she turns her head, missing the pink touching the tops of her ears and the wide-eyed looks she gives Byleth as she panics at the flirtations. Annette and Mercedes giggle, catching Lilith’s flustered looks while explaining more of what’s going on. How the Sorceress Cornelia killed the king regent and cursed the prince to become some rabid beast-like being, commonly called the Rat King due to the large rats that appear where he is.

“That sounds more like something following him instead of him controlling them,” Byleth points out with a frown that Lilith mirrors, both twins crossing their arms over their chests. Mercedes nods with a somber look on her normally smiling face, raising a hand to rest on her cheek as she tries to recall any more information.

“Well, the people don’t realize that the Crown Prince was cursed, they only see a beast man and the large rats,” she offers in their defense. Byleth sighs while Lilith rubs at her temples in irritation. That sort of thinking is what made it hard for the pair of them to do jobs on their own, often leading to them snarling or staring down potential jobs.

“Still, it’s not fair on Prince Dimitri,” Annette whines, not noticing how the twins tense up. Byleth’s stomach plummets in fear and worry at the confirmation. His soulmate is out there, suffering, and he’s just now finding out about it. Lilith rests her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, looking up at him with her own worry. He glances back, offering her a small smile, before freezing at the sound of clawed feet. He and Lilith immediately draw their swords, eyes scanning the forest to find what could make such a noise. Claude flips off his bow, notching an arrow easily as his eyes start flicking around them. Annette moves in front of Mercedes, gently pushing the healer to the center of the group. Lilith and Byleth smoothly move to cover the healer as they continue to look around the forest. Suddenly, a pack of rats thunder past them, startling Byleth a little at their sheer size. A little bigger than a Maine Coon cat, the dirt and blood covered creatures squeak and chatter as they pass the group, not a single one stopping to even look at them as they trail off, deeper into the forest.

“Well, that was utterly disgusting,” Claude comments, returning his arrow to his quiver.

* * *

After the rat pack thundered past them, the group picked up the pace, finally leaving the forest and entering the field that leads into Summer as the sun starts to set.

“Alright, so, what are the sleep set ups?” Claude asks, turning his head to his companions.

“Lilith and I. Annette and Mercedes. You’re on your own,” Byleth tells the Lord, Lilith nodding beside him. Annette and Mercedes giggle as Claude whines about being left on his own. Byleth huffs out a laugh while Lilith smiles at the Lord’s dramatics, both laying out their sleeping gear to prepare to rest. Eventually, the Lord stops whining and lays out his own sleeping gear, resting on it easily while Mercedes and Annette cuddle together. Byleth blinks, drowsiness dragging him to sleep. Idly, he wonders what will happen when he falls asleep while in a souldream, before succumbing.


	3. Reaching into the Sleep

The first thing Byleth hears is a steady beeping sound from his right. Forcing his eyes open in the harsh light of the room he finds himself in, Byleth looks around in confusion. The white walls and sharp smell of anesthetics tell him that he’s in a hospital room. Sitting up, he looks around, realizing that he’s alone in the room. Suddenly, the door opens, revealing two semi-familiar women wearing nurse scrubs.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Annette chirps, practically skipping over to the clipboard at the foot of his bed.

“That’s a relief. We were a little worried when you wouldn’t wake up,” Mercedes sighs in relief, walking up to him and taking his wrist, looking at her watch as she measures his pulse. He sits still, waiting patiently for the two to determine if he can move or leave or what he needs done next.

“So, we’re pretty sure you don’t have a concussion. However, we do need to check,” Annette tells him, looking up from the clipboard. Mercedes nods, getting his attention again.

“What is your name?” she asks.

“Byleth Eisner,” he answers, settling in for a series of questions. It doesn’t take long for the nurses to realize that he was fine, answering every question clearly.

“Well, you’re free to go,” Mercedes tells him with a smile.

“Thanks Mercedes,” he replies, standing from the bed and stretching. His back lets out a loud crack, a pop of tension leaving him feeling limber and more relaxed. Turning his head, Byleth jumps a little at how close Mercedes is to his face.

“How do you know my name?” she asks, crossing her arms. Internally screaming, Byleth blinks at her as he scrambles for a way to explain how he knows her name without sounding like a creeper.

“Maybe he heard it through a souldream?” Annette offers, which Byleth nods at, thankful that someone could explain it without delving into who-

“But who could his soulmate be, if they know my name?” Mercedes hums thoughtfully. Annette pokes him in the ribs, startling him from watching Mercedes.

“Do you know my name?” she asks with a grin. For a split second, he thinks about lying, but, if they know his soulmate, he’s willing to take a chance.

“Annette,” Byleth replies. Annette jumps in excitement.

“Ooooo! You must be his soulmate!” she chirps. Mercedes sighs and shakes her head, a good-natured smile on her face.

“We can’t be sure of that, Annie,” she argues. The smaller woman puffs up her cheeks and shakes her fists up and down, similar to how her dream counterpart did when Claude’s teased her a little too much.

“But it could be,” she whines. Finally, Byleth decides to trust these women and take the plunge.

“Is his first name Dimitri?” he asks, startling the women from their argument. Slowly, Mercedes nods while Annette blinks in surprise. Swallowing around the lump of hope and fear clogging his throat he continues on, “Is he a blond with blue eyes?”

“Yep,” Annette answers, something like joy creeping into her eyes. Byleth chews his bottom lip as he searches for the right words (Jeralt never really taught them to pick words carefully, knowing Claude forced them to learn _really fast_ ).

“Did something happen to him, five years ago, that made him disappear from you guys?” he asks. The way Mercedes face lit up told him that he asked it the right way, the blonde nurse nodding.

“See! I told you!” Annette cheers, jumping happily. Byleth can’t stop the smile at the smaller nurse’s enthusiasm while the older woman looked hesitantly hopeful.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about your soulmate?” she asks, like she’s scared that they may be wrong. Byleth thinks about it, recalling everything he can from the dreams he shared.

“He feels guilty about his mother’s death, as she died of a sickness not too soon after his birth. He has three childhood friends he had worried hated each other and thought they only stuck together and with him out of obligation. He has another friend who lives with him, a man from Duscar who likes baking and gardening,” he offers, watching as her worry leaves her shoulders. Annette bounces, squealing excitedly.

“It’s him! It’s definitely him!” she practically cheers. Mercedes giggles, shaking her head at her friend’s excitement. She turns back to him with a soft smile.

“Go check room 245. You’ll see someone that should make you happy. Oh, but call your family. We contacted them when you were admitted and they were quite worried,” she tells him with a smile.

* * *

Byleth wanders the hospital hall, his eyes flicking from one sign to another. It took almost an hour to calm Dad, Lilith and Sothis down and assure them that he’s fine, leaving him with maybe two hours left of visiting hours. He frowns, narrowing his eyes at the numbers before he finally stops at room 245. He knocks on the door, before pushing it open slowly. Inside the room is only one man, unconscious on the bed with multiple IVs and an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. Stepping into the room, Byleth feels like his heart drops into his stomach, his hands trembling as he steps closer and closer to the familiar looking man. His blond hair has grown out shaggy while one eye is currently covered with a bandage, but the hands that taught Byleth how to play chords on the piano are the same. The furrow in his brow is the same with Lilith’s dream version threw a snowball into his face. His mouth, even covered by the oxygen mask, is still full with a cupid’s bow, just like Byleth remembers kissing during one of their souldreams.

“Dima,” he whispers, listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Taking a seat beside the bed, Byleth gently takes the other man’s hand and gives it a soft squeeze, words failing him like usual. He doesn’t know how long he sat there, watching over his soulmate, when two men entered.

“Who are you?” the dark-haired man demands while the other blond man raises an eyebrow at Byleth. Both men he knew from the souldream.

“Lord Rodrigue. Your Majesty,” Byleth greets, before flinching at realizing he greeted them like he would in the souldream. Rodrigue looked at him in confusion, but Lambert had a look of hope flash in his eyes.

“Tell me, what’s your name? As you seem to know ours. Or rather, Rodrigue’s,” Lambert asks, looking at Byleth thoughtfully. Shifting awkwardly, Byleth lowers his head shyly, but keeps a hold of Dimitri’s hand.

“Byleth Eisner, sir,” he answers, quietly. Lambert let out a noise of understanding, clapping his hands in happiness, while Rodrigue looks between them in confusion.

“You know him, Lambert?” the dark-haired man asks, raising a brow at the man. Lambert chuckles and shakes his head with a grin.

“No, but Dimitri spoke often of a Byleth Eisner and his twin sister when he had a souldream,” the man explains, pulling over a chair to sit in front of Byleth. He perks up at the mention of his sister, shifting to face the man while still holding on to his son’s hand.

“Now, if it’s not too much to ask, do you have a twin sister?” he asks Byleth. Without really thinking, Byleth pulls out his phone and opens the camera roll, finding the most recent “sibling selfie” Sothis had them take. He hands it to Lambert to let the man see them, blinking at the laugh the man lets out. Even Rodrigue seems amused by the picture, covering his mouth as he tries to smother his laughter. Blinking, Byleth peeks back at the picture, confused as to what made the men laugh.

It’s from the fair, with Byleth and Lilith standing beside each other, wearing matching, complimentary colored squid hats with their usual faces, while Sothis had dropped into a split before them, her arms raised as she attempts to smolder at the camera.

“That’s… quite the picture,” Lambert eventually says, calming down from his laughter and handing the phone back to Byleth. He nods as he takes back his phone and puts it back in his pocket, looking up at the men curiously.

“Still, it would be best if this is kept under wraps until Dimitri wakes up,” Rodrigue speaks up, his body language finally relaxed after some proof to his friend’s claim. Lambert nods, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

“Indeed, it will help prevent a potential false-claim accusation,” Lambert agrees, looking back at his sleeping son. He turns back to Byleth with a look of curiosity on his face.

“How did you know he was here?” Lambert asks. Byleth fidgets, unsure of what to say or how to explain what exactly happened.

“We… bumped into each other. At the crosswalk? To GMU from Fifth Street,” he starts, shifting awkwardly while squeezing Dimitri’s hand for grounding. He continues, “I felt a connection when he knocked into me. But. He left before I could say anything. Then, I went to grab something my friend had dropped. In the middle of the walk. And a car. It, um, it ran the light. Before I could get out of the way, he was back and pushing me out of the way. I hit my head and had the first souldream in five years. Woke up in one of the other rooms, where Annette and Mercedes were. They, uh, they told me where to find him.” Byleth shifts awkwardly as the men mull his words over, running his thumb over Dimitri’s knuckles idly. Eventually, Lambert sighs, shaking his head sadly.

“That five year gap is what led to you two meeting the way you have,” he tells Byleth, a sad look in his eye. Clearing his throat, Lambert eyes Byleth critically before sighing.

“Five years ago, our home was lit a flame. While Dimitri escaped with slight burns, Rodrigue’s eldest and myself ended up in a coma. During that time, Cornelia was making some power moves in the family company, trying to secure the ownership of the entire company. While Dimitri was trying to stop her and continue helping the company expand, my brother was murdered, and Dimitri was framed for it. By the time I woke from my coma, he’d already been running for three months,” Lambert explains, slumping in his seat. Byleth inhales sharply, his hand clinging to Dimitri’s desperately. A sad smile crosses Lambert’s face at how Byleth curls toward his son, as if trying to protect him from anything that the world will try to throw at his recovering child.

“Please, help him,” Lambert requests, rising from his chair when Rodrigue, reluctantly, taps his watch as a reminder of the time. Byleth nods once, watching as the men finally leave before turning back to his sleeping soulmate.

“Dima, please, wake up,” Byleth begs. Dimitri continues to sleep, his eyelid flickering from whatever dream he’s having. Sighing, he rests his head on the bed, watching as Dimitri’s chest rises and falls. Slowly, it lulls him to sleep.


	4. Blurring the Line

Blinking his eyes open, Byleth is once again in the field between Spring and Summer. Sitting up, he looks around him. Claude is splayed on the ground, his nose twitching in the way that indicates he’s on the cusp of waking up. Lilith is beside him, blinking slowly as she wakes up. Annette and Mercedes are rolling off their bedding, mumbling and rubbing their eyes as they wake up.

“Get up,” he tells Lilith, poking her in the side. Lilith groans, rolling over briefly before sitting up and pouting at the rising sun.

“Early,” she complains, but still rises. Byleth gets up as well, fishing out a jerky bar for food, handing his sister some dried fruit. She takes it and nibbles on a piece as she nudges at Claude with her toe. The man moans and rolls off his bedding, whining as something digs into his thigh.

“Up,” she orders, her mouth twitching into a smile when he flips onto his back and looks up at her with something like awe.

“You’re gorgeous,” he tells her, looking up at her like she’s holy. Byleth sighs, standing up and walking over to them, flipping Claude back onto his stomach.

“Stop flirting. Get up,” he orders, lightly kicking at the Lord’s ribs. Claude whines again, reluctantly getting up, missing Lilith’s flush of embarrassment. Hopping up, Claude stretches his arms above his head.

“Alright, let’s get walking,” he says, pointing across the field as he starts walking. Byleth raises an eyebrow at his sister while Annette and Mercedes giggle and whisper to each other, secret smiles on their faces. Lilith clears her throat and follows Claude, bumping into Byleth’s shoulder. He chuckles, shaking his head before pausing and glancing back into the forest. He briefly sees a flash of blue, but before he can investigate, Annette calls for him to catch up. Sighing, he turns and follows the group, missing the blond man watching him longingly.

* * *

Arriving in Summer, Byleth wishes he had the cuts his sister had in his armor. The heat was almost unbearable, drenching him in sweat as they continue to walk. However, once he remembers this is a dream, he wishes for a steady, cool breeze to blow on them and the rest of the trip into Summer is pleasant.

“The first village is up ahead, keep up,” Claude calls from the front, waving them forward. Annette groans, fanning herself rapidly, while Mercedes giggles and fans the smaller woman too.

“Does it have a way to cool down? It’s too hot,” she whines, trudging near the back of their group. Lilith takes off her coat and wordlessly holds it to Annette. The small woman looks at it in confusion before both Lilith and Mercedes lift the coat up, creating moving shade. The red-head beams at them in gratitude, causing Byleth to smile at his twin. She nods back, her shy smile peeking through her usual expressionlessness. Byleth was so focused on watching his twin that he didn’t pay attention to walking until he bumps into Claude. Turning to ask what caused him to stop, Byleth inhales sharply at the view of the village before them.

“No,” Claude whispers as the houses burn and rats chase the surviving villagers, knocking them over and eating them. Byleth snarls and sprints to the village, his sister right behind him. Stabbing down into a rat, he slashes through another rat, his teeth bared in fury as he slaughters as many of the rats as he can.

“Behind you!” a young man calls out. Byleth spins and slices through the rat that launched itself at him. Turning to the voice, Byleth sees a young man holding a bow with silver hair and pale green eyes that make his freckled face appear more youthful. He grins and nods at Byleth before turning back to the rats crawling all over the place. Byleth glances around, seeing Claude take to a rooftop to snipe rats while Annette and Mercedes stay close to each other, casting magic to either kill the rats or heal and save villagers. Cutting a rat in half, he turns to see his sister fighting back-to-back with an imposing man with striking white hair, the man wielding a blood covered ax. Hearing a scream, Byleth takes off after it, slicing though as many of the rats as he can while running.

“Please! Help!” a child screams out. Gritting his teeth, Byleth leaps over a fence and skids to a halt where a pale woman has cornered the child. The woman turns to him and hisses, turning and fleeing, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, the rats rush after her, forming an almost protective formation around her. While Byleth wants to go after the woman, he’s more concerned about the girl. Turning, he huffs in surprise.

“Oh, thank you so very much!” the girl, Flayn, chirps, finally looking up at him. She gasps in delight, bouncing even as she continues to hug him.

“Byleth! Oh! It’s absolutely wonderful to see you again!” she cheers, beaming up at him. Byleth huffs again, smiling down at her and ruffling her hair before turning back to the center of the village. Seteth appears, gently taking Flayn from Byleth and heading into a house, giving the younger man a nod. He returns the nod, finally making his way back to his group and the two other men.

“Ah, you’re the man who I yelled at,” the smaller of the two men comments. He looks even younger up close, Byleth realizes as he nods once.

“Thank you all for your help. We had been searching for his Majesty throughout all of Summer and have yet to find him,” the taller man tells them, first giving them a bow of thanks before explaining why they were there.

“Dedue and Ashe! It’s so good to see you both in good health!” Mercedes chirps, smiling at them. Ashe, the smaller male, flushes and looks to the ground, kicking the guts of one of the rats in idle embarrassment. Dedue simply nods, a frown firmly on his face as he looks at the group.

“I see that you were unsuccessful as well,” he comments, crossing his arms. Claude mirrors him, looking around the village with an angry look in his eye.

“And I see that the rats are now not just following Dimitri,” he growls. Lilith shivers in arousal, getting an irritated look from Byleth, before the twins both turn back to the conversation. Annette rests her finger on her chin in thought.

“Perhaps they’re looking for him?” she offers.

“No, there was someone here controlling them,” Byleth tells them. Everyone turns to him in curiosity.

“A woman, completely white with bright orange hair,” he expands on. Dedue’s frown deepened, crossing his arms.

“That sounds like Kronya,” he growls. Annette parrots the name in confusion while Ashe looks at Dedue with worry.

“She kept bringing up Dedue’s heritage to Dimitri as a reason to distrust him,” Ashe explains for the larger man, resting his hand on the other man’s arm. Dedue relaxes minutely, something Byleth and Lilith notice and share a thoughtful look with each other. Claude sighs, scratching at the back of his head.

“Still, is there anything we can do before moving on? These will be my people,” Claude asks, looking around the flaming houses and raised fields.

“If I may,” Seteth calls, catching the groups attention. He stands at attention, Flayn hiding shyly behind her father. Bowing at the group, the man straightens up while looking Claude in the eye, “We can head to the Monastery with the remaining villagers while searching for help with rebuilding. It shan’t be too long of a time before we can live here once more.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Claude says after a moment’s consideration. Seteth nods once, turning to the twin with a small frown.

“I should also tell you that Jeralt said that he would be waiting for you two in Fall,” he tells them. Lilith nods while Byleth offers him a small smile. The man bows once again before turning to gather the remaining villagers. Flayn gives them a wave before trailing after her father.

“What an interesting man,” Mercedes comments. Claude snorts while Ashe lets out a soft laugh of his own. Even Dedue smiles at that, making him appear younger. Byleth shakes his head in amusement, turning to his companions.

“So, shall we go?” he asks while Lilith starts walking ahead.

* * *

It turns out that they were near the center of the continent, allowing them to travel through the shortest sections of each country within the day. Night creeps upon them as they arrive at the edge of Summer and Fall. Claude sits next to Lilith, trying to get her to talk to him while she silently panics at the attention. Mercedes and Annette sit beside each other, giggling and watching Claude and his sister interact. Byleth sits beside Ashe as the younger man prods at the cooking fire, carefully watching as their dinner cooks.

“So, what can you tell me about this whole issue with Prince Dimitri?” Byleth asks. Ashe looks up and blinks in surprise.

“Oh, it’s just, Cornelia’s been causing all sorts of trouble since the King disappeared and the King Regent was killed. She, um, put the blame on Dimitri,” he explains, prodding the fire once more before moving back up to the stew, stirring it carefully. Byleth hums, thinking about what Lambert told him in the real world and what he’s been finding out in this world. It’s obvious that Cornelia did something, but what is left up to the unknown. He eats his dinner and lays down on his sleeping mat, still thinking over the information. Deciding to get more information when he wakes in reality, Byleth closes his eyes, never feeling the blue eye focused on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, yes, Dimitri is tailing them in the souldream. This will be expanded upon.


	5. Finding Support

A screech startles Byleth awake from where he rested his head beside Dimitri.

“What are you doing to my Dimitri?!” a familiar woman shrieks, pointing an accusing finger at Byleth. He blinks in confusion, wondering what’s going on when a Doctor walks in from behind her, his hands up in a placating manner.

“Ms. Monica, please calm down. He was here during visiting hours, probably to thank your soulmate for saving him,” the Doctor explains, getting another confused blink from Byleth.

“Well, I want him out,” she demands, pointing at Byleth and sneering at the Doctor.

“Y-Yes, Ms. Monica,” the poor man stutters, walking in and gently pulling Byleth up. Dimitri’s hand tightens slightly around his hand, trying to keep his hand, only to be too weak as Byleth is pulled away. The Doctor leads him out, leaving the unconscious Dimitri with Monica, who Byleth is sure is actually Kronya.

“It’s nice that you are worried about Mr. Blaiddyd enough to visit him. However, visiting time is over,” the man tells him kindly. Byleth frowns, looking at the older man.

“How are you sure she’s his soulmate?” he asks, purposely blunt. The Doctor sputters, blinking at Byleth in the same manner that Byleth had blinked at him.

“Sh-She had information that no one but his family could know. Scars, sicknesses, registered shots,” he explains. Byleth frowns, unsure if he should tell the older man that it would take Lilith only ten minutes to find that information or let the man continue to believe that the woman now in Dimitri’s room is his soulmate. However, before he could even bring this up to the Doctor, he was in the waiting room.

“If you’d like to visit again tomorrow, the hours are from 8am to 5 pm,” the older man tells him with a kind smile, before turning back into the hall. Byleth frowns and reluctantly walks out of the hospital, only to be knocked over and wonder if he needs to be readmitted.

“Dude! We were worried!” Claude cries, looking at him from behind his sister, who is wrapped around him like a worried Koala.

“I think I need to go back in,” he says instead of a greeting, blinking up at the dark night sky. Lilith huffs against his chest, raising his head to give him an irritated look.

“No,” she tells him. Byleth blinks and raises an eyebrow. She twitches her mouth down and flicks her eyes to the side, where she pockets her phone. Byleth hums, tilting his head to the side he pockets his own phone, twitching his brow in question. Lilith nods once, and he returns the nod.

“That is still the weirdest and coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Claude comments from behind them. The twins turn to him and raise a single brow in unison. Laughing, Claude reaches down to help Lilith get off Byleth before offering his hand to his friend. Byleth takes his hand, allowing himself to be pulled up.

“Apparently, I’m not the soulmate to my soulmate,” he says once on his feet.

“Explain,” Lilith demands, her eyes hard, like when she hunted down the bullies who had shoved him into the mud because he preferred reading over rough housing. Claude also looks harder, reminding Byleth of the time they went to a club and a fuckboy tried to flirt with Lilith even after being told she wasn’t interested.

“A woman told the Doctors about Dimitri’s medical history, and they believed she’s his soulmate,” he explains.

“Your sister can literally hack into the hospital records within ten minutes,” Claude points out with a curl of his lip. Byleth shrugs, walking away from the hospital while heading toward the café Seteth and Flayn own.

“My souldream also started up again,” he throws out idly. Immediately, Lilith was beside him, grabbing his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He squeezes back, flicking his eyes over to see her face soften sweetly. He’s sure his face is softer too, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“God, you two are adorable together,” Claude comments from where he jogged to catch up with Lilith. In an instant, Lilith lets go of her brother’s hand to wrap her soulmate in a headlock and noogie him, ignoring his whining and complaining about his hair. Byleth has turn away to hide his chuckle, especially at how red his sister turned at Claude’s comment. Once the pair separates, they continue to the café.

“Still, for your souldream to start up after five years. I take it something happened to your soulmate?” Claude asks. Byleth nods once, reluctant to tell his nosy friend anymore information. Lilith turns curiously to her soulmate, cocking her head to the side in an obvious question.

“There’s a theory that souldreams can be severed should something traumatic happen to one of them. It’s possible that when you met him again that it reinstated your connection,” Claude tells them, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Lilith immediately leaned over to him to press a kiss to his cheek, before grabbing her brother’s hand and dragging him the rest of the way to the White Dragon Café.

“You’re going to have to use your words one day, you know that, right?” Byleth asks. Lilith turns and sticks out her tongue at him, ignoring how Claude stumbles after them. Taking mercy on the obvious confusion from the other man, Byleth explains, “She thinks you’re currently brilliant. Keep talking about the theory, though. I want to know more.” Claude blinks at him, before puffing up with pride.

“Right, so, your soulmate had something traumatic happen to him, right?” Claude asks. At Byleth’s nod, he continues, “So, the current theory is that something traumatic happening to one soulmate cuts off the souldreams if they don’t know each other in reality. A way to protect the other soulmate, that’s the current thought. Anyway, since the souldream is based around the soulmates’ mental states, things can shift and alter depending on one or the other. If you know one person in reality and they appear in the souldream, they’re based off how you think of them.”

“Then he still trusts and likes his friends,” Byleth realizes, relaxing at that revelation. If he finds more of Dimitri’s friends in reality, then maybe they can help him help Dimitri. Claude nods as they finally enter the Café.

“Ah! Welcome! H-How may I help you today?” Ashe asks from behind the register, wearing the new employee apron Seteth forces on them for the first month.

“I’ll have a large coffee, she’ll have a medium mocha, and he deserves a small coffee,” Byleth says, ignoring Claude’s sputtering and focusing on the young man before him. Ashe nods and pokes at the register’s screen, his tongue poking out of his mouth in thought.

“Will that be all?” he asks, looking up at him with his pale green eyes.

“No, thank you Ashe,” Byleth answers, realizing, after a long moment of silence, that he doesn’t have a name tag. Pressing his mouth together in a line, Byleth looks up and leans back at the sight of Dedue turning from the coffee machine to leer at him threateningly.

“Is there any way I can make you both believe I met you in my souldream? Because that’s what happened,” Byleth offers, holding his hands up in surrender. Lilith is tense beside him while Claude looks at the two men calculatingly. Ashe laughs nervously as Dedue walks up behind him, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

“And how are you to prove that?” Dedue demands, rightfully, Byleth knows. Looking around, making sure no one is listening to them before motioning that both men lean closer to him. The two share a look before reluctantly doing as asked.

“Dimitri is currently in a coma and a woman, calling herself Monica, is claiming to be his soulmate by using his medical history. However, when I saw her in the souldream, Dedue called her Kronya and Ashe told me that she tries to make Dimitri distrust him due to his heritage,” Byleth tells them quietly. Dedue’s eyes widen while Ashe inhales sharply.

“Are you serious?” the smaller man hisses, glancing around. Luckily, no one has come in behind them and the other customers are focused on their own drinks and conversations. Byleth nods, a small frown in place.

“Bright orange hair and white skin,” he repeats from his dream. Dedue’s frown fixes into place while Ashe’s pale green eyes light up in rage.

“Our break is in five minutes. Please wait,” Dedue finally says, handing over the drinks he had ordered. Byleth nods and hands Claude and Lilith their drinks before finding a table that can be used.

“What the hell was that about?” Claude asks, a frown on his own face. Byleth takes a sip of his coffee, his mind rushing for all the information he has from his souldream.

“I think,” he starts, swallowing around a lump that’s forming in his throat, “we’re going to be helping uncover something illegal.”

* * *

Once Dedue and Ashe get their break, they join the table along with Annette and Mercedes, who just finished off their shifts with twin looks of worry.

“He’s telling the truth. It’s definitely Kronya who’s pretending to be Dimitri’s soulmate,” Mercedes confirms. Annette crosses her arms, an unfitting scowl on her face.

“But why is she making this claim now? She’s worked under Dimitri for two years before the accusations happened,” she mumbles. Lilith looks up from her phone, before returning to it, focused on something on the small screen.

“Maybe, due to Lambert’s recovery, something happened?” Claude offers, having been told a summarized version of the tragic event that led to the severing of the souldream while they waited. Dedue shakes his head, a thoughtful frown on his face.

“I don’t believe that’s what happened. The news have been pretty much in Dimitri’s corner even five years ago. With the reveal of his innocence, the police changed from hunting down a fugitive to looking for a missing person,” he tells them. Claude hums thoughtfully while Byleth frowns at the table, racking his brain for any more information. The others all fall into their own thoughts, trying to figure out what she could be gaining by saying this now.

“She works for Cornelia,” Lilith abruptly, startling everyone at the table. She sets her phone down and spins it to let them all see. The screen is filled with numbers and text that go right over Byleth’s head, but Claude lights up and moves the phone closer to him.

“This is interesting,” he practically purrs, scrolling along her phone as he looks over all the numbers and letters. Lilith practically beams while Byleth rises from his seat to peek over on to her phone screen. Claude abruptly pauses, his face slipping from pleased to blank within a second. He slides her phone back to her and stands up, mumbling about needing to make a phone call. Once he’s gone, Lilith deflates, pouting at her phone, while Byleth pats her back, turning back to the others at their table.

“If that’s true, then she might be using him to help Cornelia gain more power within the company,” Dedue throws out. Ashe, Annette, and Mercedes nod thoughtfully while Byleth and Lilith share a look of confusion.

“What company?” Byleth asks, blinking at the looks of shock that cross the group’s face. Mercedes and Annette look at each other before bursting into giggles while Ashe lets out a wheeze.

“Th-the Faerghus Company. The company Dimitri is to inherit,” Dedue states, blinking in bewilderment. Byleth blinks again, only for Lilith to sling her arm around his shoulder and lift her phone up for him to see her screen. On there, the Dimitri of five years ago smiles back at him from the screen. Byleth takes his twin’s phone and saves the picture to send a text with it to his own phone. Once that’s done, he actually reads the article while the four turn back to themselves, talking about something or other.

_Faerghus Company is the leading provider of robotics and medical engineering… However, a tragedy caused Lambert to temporarily step down… Accusations of Dimitri murdering his uncle caused the young man to disappear from public eye… Evidence of his innocence has been found and brought forward… Murderer is still at large…_

“This is vague,” Byleth comments, finally looking up at the group. Dedue frowns and crosses his arms while Ashe sighs and nods.

“Well, it’s vague on purpose. They couldn’t just let people know what happened,” Ashe points out. Byleth nods, understanding the position they would be in. If it became known that Lambert could have potentially died, some people would have dropped their stocks in the company, which would have caused more than a few issues for all the workers.

“What can we do?” Byleth asks, looking up. Dedue leans back, pulling out his own phone.

“I’ll get in contact with Dimitri’s secretary. She’ll tell his other friends and we can all meet up together at the hospital tomorrow,” he tells the twins. Lilith nods while Byleth can’t help the grateful smile cross his face.

“Thank you, for being there for him when I couldn’t,” Byleth tells them, sincerely. Dedue’s stern expression softens while Ashe beam, Annette claps her hands happily and Mercedes giggles.

“Of course,” Dedue assures him.

* * *

“We’re home,” Byleth calls upon entering the apartment. A green blur knocks him on his ass while Lilith ignores the commotion to take off her scarf and jacket.

“I was so worried,” Sothis wails, burying her face into his stomach while her pigtails flop about on his ribs. Dad peers around the wall blocking off the kitchen, his face disinterested while his eyes skim over his son for any injuries. Once he’s seen nothing out of the ordinary, he snorts and returns to the kitchen.

“Sothis, get off your brother and help me finish dinner. Lil, go set the table. By, go get changed, you smell like antiseptic,” he tells them. Immediately, they move, Byleth to the shower while Lilith moves to the table and Sothis drags her feet to the kitchen, whining even as she helps.

Dinner is a relatively silent affair, neither twin sure about what to say or how to bring up Byleth meeting his soulmate only for said soulmate to be in a coma. Sothis focuses on her food, whining about winter break homework already stacking up before the holidays even begin, while Dad chuckles. After eating, the twins handle the dishes while Dad and Sothis flip to one of the holiday competitions.

“Are you going to tell Dad and Soth?” Lilith asks, handing him a wet dish. Byleth hums, wiping off the water and setting it in the drying rack.

“I should, just don’t know how to,” he tells her. Lilith hums and nods, understanding his hesitance. It took her two weeks of knowing Claude in real life before telling them that she met her soulmate, if only due to not knowing how to bring it up.

“You’ll figure it out,” she assures him, bumping her hip into his hip. Byleth huffs out a laugh, shaking his head as he continues to dry dishes. Once those are done, Byleth spends a little time requesting information from the classes he missed today before joining the rest of his family on the sofa. They take the piss out of one person’s design while commenting on how good another person’s looked. Eventually, Sothis heads to bed, which the twins take as time to head to bed themselves. Laying down on his bed, Byleth hopes he can help Dima with everything that the other man needs. Pulling out his phone, Byleth opens the texts and looks at the younger Dimitri in the picture.

“Let me help you,” Byleth requests quietly, slowly drifting off to sleep.


	6. First Contact

Byleth’s not surprised that he opens his eyes in the Land of Seasons again. Rising once again, he looks over the group. Dedue is wrapped protectively around Ashe while Claude is resting his head on Lilith’s shoulder. Mercedes and Annette are practically twined together, the smaller woman’s head resting on her companion’s breasts. Turning his attention away, he stretches his arms over head and stands up, moving to work out the kinks that would have built up overnight if this were real. During a twisting motion, he stops at the sight of something that had been placed at the head of his bed during the “night”.

A small bundle of blue and white flowers rests above his bed roll, tied with twine. Byleth stoops down and picks up the bundle, skimming the tree line near them. Not too far from where the group rests, a hulking figure hides in the shadows, achingly familiar while altogether foreign. Before he could take a step toward them, the figure scampers off, just as the others wake up.

“By? You up?” Lilith mumbles, rolling away from Claude before rising. The Lord grumbles when his head lightly thuds the ground, pushing up off the ground to pout at Lilith’s back. Byleth nods once, tucking the flowers into his pocket before watching the rest of the group rise.

Mercedes is peppering Annette’s face with kisses, giggling at the whines and mumbles she gets as the smaller woman wakes up. Dedue has lifted Ashe up, bridal style, a soft smile on his face as the smaller man curls against him for warmth and to stave off waking up. Claude stretches his back, missing the shy look of want on Lilith’s face, before he turns to the rest of the group.

“Alright! Let’s go through Fall,” he orders, walking off and leaving the rest of them to follow.

* * *

Arriving in Fall, they venture to the first village they can find, looking for information if it’s available.

“I-I’m sorry,” a girls stutters, shaking her purple hair out of her eyes while attempting to focus on the papers and ink in front of her, “I don’t h-have any information. B- but I know who does!”

“Who?” Lilith asks after a long pause. The girl shrieks and apologizes, flailing and pointing toward a trio at another table. Dedue and Annette seem to recognize the trio while Ashe tries to help calm the girl with Mercedes.

“It seems we will have more help,” the tall man says as he strides toward the table. Byleth follows behind, glancing over his shoulder as his twin awkwardly looks to Claude for help, only to see the Lord bent over and laughing. Turning back to the trio, Byleth stands behind Dedue as he knocks on the table. Immediately, all three turn their heads toward the man, obviously ready for a fight. Once they see who it is, they relax.

“Dedue! Good to see you!” the red-haired man crows, patting Dedue’s forearm. The taller man nods at the redhead.

“And you as well, Sylvain. Tell me, have you, Ingrid, or Felix found anything about His Highness’ whereabouts?” he asks. Sylvain sighs and shakes his head while the dark-haired man, Felix, scowls.

“Of course not. If the idiot wants to hide, then no one’s going to find him,” he snaps. The lone woman of the group, Ingrid, gasps and swats at his head.

“Felix!” she scolds. Byleth peers around Dedue and waves, getting the trio’s attention.

“Hello,” he deadpans, blinking when Sylvain wheezes while Felix looks at him warily and Ingrid blinks up at him.

“H-hello,” she stutters.

“Are you going to help us find Dimitri?” Byleth asks, getting a reminder that this is a souldream with how none of them react to his disregard of titles and how between one blink and another they’re back on the road, leaving the village with three new companions.

“This is so weird,” Byleth mumbles to himself, jogging up to Claude to get an idea of where they need to go.

* * *

The group arrives at another village, however this one is overrun with rats. Slaying as many of the rats as he can, Byleth searches through the village, sending villagers to a safe area and keeping an eye out for Kronya.

“By?! Is that you?” someone yells. Turning his head, Byleth inhales sharply at the sight of Dad, dressed in his leather armor with a bloody lance.

“Dad,” Byleth greets, making his way over to his Dad, killing multiple rats as he goes. His father works his own way to Byleth, stabbing at the rats that try to get in his way. Once within arm’s reach, the older man drags Byleth into a one-armed hug, pressing his mouth to the top of Byleth’s head.

“I’m glad you’re okay. Where’s your sister?” he asks, pulling back to look Byleth in the eye. He points back toward the taller buildings, where he last saw his sister protecting Claude while the Lord fired off multiple arrows at the rats. Dad ruffles his hair before heading toward the buildings. Byleth continues through the village, feeling a little better about knowing where his family is.

Arriving at what was once the village’s center, Byleth sees a busty woman in what looks like darker red robes similar to Annettes. The woman has strawberry blonde hair, and a cruel smile to match her laughter.

“Feast. _Feast_. Become strong enough to eat them all,” she croons at the rats, casting some kind of magic that surrounds the horrific creatures and makes them grow rapidly. Byleth snarls silently, gripping his sword as he moves out and slices through a number of the creatures. The woman shrieks in horror at the deaths.

“You’re killing them! How dare you hurt my babies!” she howls, firing a blast at him. Byleth rolls out of the way, feeling power crackle through him. She snarls, casting multiple spells at him. He dodges most of them, hissing when a blast barely brushes his shoulder. Without thinking, he flings his hand out at the woman, wincing as electricity crackles off his arm and strikes the woman in the stomach. The shriek of pain tells him that the blast did damage, however he can’t tell how much it did, especially when she releases a shockwave that sends him flying. Cursing silently, Byleth grabs at a branch of a sapling, only for it to snap. He falls back, tumbling down a forested hill that was near the village, until an arm snaps out and wraps around his waist.

“Wha-?” he gasps, turning to look at who caught him. His entire world shrinks to the wild-looking man holding him close, the shaggy blond hair doing nothing to cover that familiar blue eye peering down at him with a look of concern. Even the enlarged rat skull sitting on his head like some combination of hat and mask can hide the familiar curving of his nose, nor could the shaggy cloak hide the thin, muscular body Byleth remembers wrestling and sparring with five years prior.

“Are you alright?” Dimitri asks, his grip tight around Byleth’s waist. Swallowing around a lump in his throat, he manages to nod and pats the taller man’s arm to let him go. Dimitri sets him down, but his arm remains wrapped around Byleth’s waist, using it to pull him against his chest.

“You’re real. Gods, you’re a person and you’re real,” Dimitri sobs into Byleth’s hair, pressing his face against the dark teal strands. Byleth shifts and wiggles until he can wrap his own arms around Dimitri, shushing him and rocking him back and forth.

“It’s okay. Everything will be okay,” Byleth assures him, gasping as Dimitri’s grip tightens around him. The taller man curls around Byleth, soaking his shirt with tears.

“No. No it won’t. She’ll find you and hurt you. She’ll hurt them,” he moans against Byleth’s shoulder, clinging desperately to him like he’ll disappear if released. Frowning, Byleth lightly pops Dimitri on the head. The blond tenses, before pulling back and looking up at him in confusion.

“We won’t let her,” Byleth swears, pressing his forehead against Dimitri’s, willing his soulmate to understand. They will find out who murdered Rufus, they will find out what Cornelia is planning, and they will be there when Dimitri wakes up. No one will abandon him.

Dimitri whines low in his throat, looking at Byleth like he’s something holy, before burying his face into the smaller man’s neck.

“You don’t know that,” he claims, sounding small and helpless. Byleth clings to Dimitri, unable to stop himself from pressing his mouth against Dimitri’s forehead.

“I do. And we won’t let her. We’ll succeed,” Byleth assures him, simply basking in Dimitri’s presence. The blond man loosens his grip, but still holds Byleth close to him, breathing deeply and slowly calming down.

“Beloved,” Dimitri whispers against Byleth’s skin. Threading his fingers through the blond hair, Byleth frowns at the scarring over his soulmate’s right eye. He leans forward and presses a kiss against the scarred skin, blinking when Dimitri pulls away quickly. The taller man’s face is bright red, flustered from the obvious affection Byleth still feels for him.

“While I want to simply stay with you, we need more information on how to help you in the real world,” Byleth prods gently, grasping Dimitri’s hands and rubbing at the taller man’s knuckles. Dimitri frowns, his face slowly returning back to his regular skin tone.

“There… is a file. I think,” Dimitri mumbles, staring at Byleth’s hand as it continues to pet his own scarred hands. Byleth nods once, staring up at Dimitri curiously.

“It’s under file name XCeKww45. Felix should be able to get access to it,” Dimitri tells him with a single nod. Byleth nods back, before leaning forward to press a kiss against Dimitri’s cheek.

“Thank you. We’ll help you,” he swears, looking up at Dimitri with a smile. Dimitri flushes again, before he swoops down and presses a kiss against Byleth’s mouth. Jumping in surprise, Byleth eventually relaxes against his mouth, moaning softly and pressing back. Dimitri pulls back and chuckles when Byleth whines at the loss of his mouth.

“Thank you, Beloved,” Dimitri whispers, before something happens and between one blink and the next, the blond man disappears. Byleth blinks, looking around the area before sighing.

“I hate dreams,” he complains, looking up at the hill he had fallen down.

* * *

After climbing back up the hill, Byleth is dragged into a family hug between Lilith and Dad. The rest of the group is checking up on each other, except Claude, who is looking at Lilith in concern. Byleth sighs, feeling tired of everything that’s happened here. He just wants to help Dimitri, not deal with more awkwardness of watching Claude and Lilith’s weird flirtation/dating/thing.

“Let’s go. If we want to be at the castle by tomorrow, we need to make camp at the border,” Felix huffs, allowing himself to be pulled onto Sylvain’s horse. It’s a few minutes’ walk to the border, the sun suddenly shifting from noon to sunset.

“Am I about to wake up or am I tired,” Byleth wonders quietly as camp is set up around him. Sighing, he turns his head and spots Dimitri, hiding in the tree line. Smiling, he raises his hand to wave, chuckling softly when Dimitri perks up and waves back before turning to hide somewhere in the wood. Laying down on the bed roll, Byleth repeats the file name over and over in his mind, an attempt to keep it firmly in his memory even as he drifts to sleep in the souldream and wakes up in reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter's a bit loopy and smash cut because I decided writing while tired is a good idea, and I'm surprised at how well it works as a dream chapter.


	7. Pieces Fall into Place

Byleth wakes up in bed, groaning as he rolls out from under his blankets and falls to the floor. He lays on the floor for a moment, trying to figure out where he is, when the door to his room opens.

“Are you alive?” Sothis asks, raising her eyebrow when he groans in reply.

“He’s alive, not coherent,” Lilith tells their little sister, shooing her to the kitchen while ignoring Byleth’s pathetic whines. Dad sticks his head in not much later, once Byleth’s managed to flip himself onto his back.

“Sothis will eat your portion if you don’t get off your ass,” he warns before leaving to the kitchen himself, not even looking back when Byleth scrambles off the floor and to the closet.

* * *

After fighting his younger sister for his breakfast and throwing on clean clothes, Byleth heads off to the hospital once again. His jacket pocket holds a small notebook, with the file name XCeKww45 written in a column and nonsense written out beside it. Entering the hospital’s waiting room, he walks up to the receptionist.

“Hi. I’m visiting room 245,” he tells them. The receptionist looks up with a little frown, turning back to their computer and typing something in.

“It says here that his soulmate said no guests outside the small list the patient’s father gave us,” they respond, carefully avoiding saying Dimitri’s name.

“Soulmate claimer,” Byleth states. The receptionist blinks and looks up at him.

“I’m… sorry? What do you mean?” they ask, looking confused.

“He means that she has simply made a claim to be his soulmate,” Dedue says from behind Byleth, Ashe at his arm with a bunch of flowers and baked goods in a basket. Ashe gives Byleth a smile while Dedue continues, “As he is not conscious to confirm or deny her claim, she is simply a claimer and, legally, has no say who can and can’t visit.”

“Oh! I didn’t realize. Shit,” the receptionist curses softly, typing rapidly at their keyboard before handing Byleth a visitor’s badge.

“Please keep quiet and be mindful of the other patients,” they request before turning to Dedue and Ashe. Byleth secures his badge and waits for the couple to get their badges before walking with them to Dimitri’s room.

“So, are you excited to meet more people?” Ashe asks, obviously antsy in the silence between the three of them. Byleth shrugs once, nervously thumbing at the pages of the notebook while looking around the hall. Dedue stays silent, walking briskly to where room 245 is. Eventually, they arrive at the room and Dedue opens the door. Inside, three familiar people sit facing each other, quietly arguing.

“Hello Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid,” Byleth greets, watching in mild amusement as the trio stop arguing to turn to him in surprise.

“Who the fuck are you?” Felix demands to know, a snarl forming on his mouth. Byleth blinks once, before looking up at Dedue curiously.

“Yes, he is always that vulgar,” he sighs with a shake of his head, entering the room with Ashe following behind. Byleth stands awkwardly at the doorway, fiddling with his notebook in his jacket pocket nervously while Felix continues to glare at him, Ingrid and Sylvain look at him curiously from around their friend.

“Byleth Eisner,” he finally blurts out, caving under the scrutiny of the three childhood friends. Ingrid lights up while Sylvain raises both his eyebrows while Felix scowls at him.

“How can we be sure-” Felix starts, only stopping when Byleth whips out the notebook and shoves it into Felix’s face.

“Dimitri told me about a file that you should be able to get to. It’s- um-” he pauses to flip the notebook back to himself, reading the file name from the collection of words, “XCeKww45. It has, uh, information. About Cornelia.” The dark haired man narrows his eyes at Byleth, pulling out a slim laptop and opening it, flipping through folders and files rapidly as he searches.

“Dimitri told you? How?” Sylvain asks, the smirk on his face telling Byleth that he knows already, but wants to hear it from Byleth. He fiddles with his jacket, wanting to hold Dimitri’s hand again, but feeling judged for not being within the initial group of Dimitri’s friends.

“He told me in my souldream,” he mumbles softly, avoiding looking at anyone as worry and fear claws at his stomach. Ingrid straightens in her chair, her eyes sharpening to a glare, while Sylvain gives him a slow, mocking nods, his smile sardonic as he looks down his nose at Byleth. Despite knowing why they are looking at him like that, despite understanding their mistrust at someone who could just be using their friend and claiming to be his soulmate for power or money, it still makes Byleth upset that such distrust is aimed at him for believing in his soulmate or his souldream.

“Holy shit,” Felix hisses, getting a curious look from both of his friends. While the trio leans over Felix’s shoulder and the couple he walked up to the room join them, Byleth slips over to Dimitri’s bed, clasping the unconscious man’s hand within his own.

“Dima, please wake up soon,” he whispers, jumping in surprise when Felix lets out a roar of rage.

“So, you,” Sylvain says, catching the laptop as it falls off Felix’s lap while pointing at Byleth, “are either a hacker or Dimitri’s actual soulmate. With how you’re looking at him like he’s the world, I’d go with the latter. Lucky you.”

“…Thank… You?” Byleth replies after a confused look, frowning. Ingrid takes the laptop from Sylvain, frowning at the information she reads off the laptop, scrolling down as Sylvain stands up and slowly calms Felix down.

“There’s mentions of people I don’t recognize. Thales? Solon? Myson?” she clicks her tongue, narrowing her eyes as she types something into the laptop.

“This is worrying. Is there anyway we can get her out of her position?” Dedue asks, his brow furrowing. Byleth tilts his head, glancing at the information on the laptop screen and scowling at the jargon. He knows his specialty lies in the arts while his sister took to science eagerly, however neither of them have the taste for business, which is all the screen shows.

“What’s it saying? Money transfer? Manipulation of people under her? What?” Ashe asks, obviously just as clueless as Byleth is.

“It’s talking about pulling funds and research to be sent to some kind of group. Trafficking weapons through our shipping as well as using the pharmaceutical prototypes that only gave the test subjects highs as a new form of semi-recreational drug. There’s also information about how Rufus was actually uncovering a good deal of this before his death. Basically, if any of this got out, there would be a shit ton of issues with Cornelia and those she is working with,” Dedue explains with a frown, his eyes skimming the information on the screen.

“…Riveting,” Byleth deadpans, even as he runs his thumb over Dimitri’s knuckles. The entire group looks up at him incredulously, while he focuses on smoothing out the tightness in Dimitri’s hands.

“You don’t like business talk, do you?” Sylvain ask, a laugh fighting against him. Byleth turns and gives him look that tells him exactly how he feels about business talk. Sylvain lets out a cackle while Ashe giggles, falling against a mildly amused Dedue. Felix’s fingers fly across the keyboard, a smaller frown on his face as he looks over the information flashing on his screen.

“Even if you don’t understand what we’re saying, you do realize that this is important, right?” the dark-haired man asks without looking up. Byleth nods, making sure his reflection is visible on the laptop screen.

* * *

It takes them almost two hours to make headway into a potential case against Cornelia while also uncovering the people from the group she works with. Felix grumbles as he looks over the information while Ingrid frowns and Sylvain texts someone with a serious look on his face.

“This isn’t decisive enough evidence,” Sylvain bemoans, tossing his phone onto the stand beside Dimitri’s bed. Dedue looks up from where he and Ashe were idly setting up the pastries and flowers for Dimitri when he wakes up.

“Is there anything we can do?” he asks, turning with a frown. Sylvain waves off Dedue’s question with a sad smile, before the room descends into silence once again. Eventually, Byleth finds himself getting thirsty. Rising, he looks around the group.

“Anyone want something to drink?” he offers, finally rising from his seat beside Dimitri’s bed. Felix raises a finger, his attention purely focused on his laptop. Ingrid nods gratefully while Ashe nods eagerly.

“Water good?” he asks, getting three nods, before he maneuvers his way out of the room. Trotting down the halls, he pulls out his wallet and counts out the necessary bills to shove into the machine. Arriving, he starts to push the dollars into the machine, pushing the button for water four times. Once the last bottle thuds down, he turns to return to the room.

“…need to make them leave. If we don’t get the chance to stop him from waking, we won’t be able to get control,” a woman hisses, sounding disturbingly familiar as she speaks around the corner leading back to Dimitri’s room. Byleth presses himself against wall, peeking around the corner all while feeling like a B-list James Bond knock off. However, his self-deprecation stops upon seeing the woman, the Sorceress, from his souldream, scowling at Kronya. The younger woman winces, looking around nervously, before shuffling closer to, who could only be, Cornelia. He slides out his phone and quickly pulls up his voice memos, setting to record.

“I know, but apparently, one of them reminded the doctors about soulmate claims holding no power until the other wakes up to confirm the claim, while someone made the doctors aware of a security breach. We’re already under suspicion due to you guys making me work under that brat for a few years. If word gets out about that, I’m going to need you to back me up,” Kronya hisses. Cornelia scoffs, crossing her arms while a scowl crosses her face.

“If that damn brat just dies, we could get to that bastard’s file and erase everything. Can’t you pay one of the doctors to… accidentally overdose the little fool?” Cornelia asks.

“As if. You know that’s going to put me in danger of discovery, even if I could find someone who wouldn’t question why I would be trying to get my “soulmate” killed,” Kronya groans, biting her nail. Cornelia sighs, waving her hand flippantly.

“You say that like we haven’t done that before,” she waves off.

“He wasn’t nearly as public as the little brat is. There isn’t any way word won’t come out about the doctor who did it and how I told him,” Kronya hisses. Cornelia sighs, cocking her hip to the side and curls her lip in frustration.

“And his little entourage isn’t helping,” Kronya points out in frustration, “especially that new brat. I overheard the two nurses who hung out with the brat talk about how the new kid might be his actual soulmate. He hasn’t made a claim, but he’s already got more support than me.”

“Oh, well. Just try to get access to Rufus’ files and have them deleted. From there, we can focus on trafficking the new batch of Crest fragments to those poor, helpless little shits,” Cornelia purrs, pulling out her own phone to glance at the time. Kronya’s face shifts into a giddy smile when she giggles and nods, following as Cornelia strides down the hallway. Byleth slowly raises his phone and stops recording, his hands shaking in fear and anger despite his face staying as unmoved as usual.

* * *

When he arrives back at Dimitri’s room, he walks straight to Felix and the laptop before lifting it from the angry looking man.

“Oi!” Felix protests, reaching for the tech. Ignoring him, Byleth connects his phone to the laptop’s Bluetooth and plays the recording. Upon hearing Kronya’s voice, the room quiets as the conversation continues on, just as he heard it. Once complete, Byleth looks up at the group, intimidating with his fury.

“Here’s your fucking evidence,” he tells them, setting the laptop back down. Immediately, Felix saves the file to his laptop’s personal drive, putting the sound clip within the file holding the other incriminating information they managed to uncover against Cornelia.

“You heard this?” Dedue asks, his face stony. Byleth nods, sitting beside Dimitri once more, his hand fitting into the larger man’s hand. Ingrid curses while Sylvain stands up and leaves the room, his breathing fighting to remain even. Ashe scoots over to Byleth, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He leans into the smaller man’s hand softly, accepting the reassurance, before turning back to his comatose soulmate. His hands find Dimitri’s hand again, running his thumb over the larger man’s knuckles once more. The silence reigns once more, the soft clacking of Felix’s keyboard playing as the background noise. The door to the room slams open, Kronya sneering down her nose at the gathered people.

“You all need to leave so my soulmate can recover,” she huffs, crossing her arms under her bust. Felix glares up at her, his laptop slid back into his bag quickly, while Sylvain gently wraps his arm around the dark-haired man.

“Easy there, babe,” he coos against the dark blue hair, even as he watches Kronya like a predator. Ingrid gives the other woman a smile with too many teeth and Ashe moves protectively in front of Dedue, a scowl on his soft face. Byleth stares down at Kronya, watching as she slowly curls into herself, her entitled attitude leaving for nerves. A doctor appears behind her, a small frown on his face.

“Visiting hours are over. Please leave,” the man instructs. Reluctantly, they follow his instructions, although Byleth takes a moment to brush some hair from Dimitri’s face.

“Please wake up soon, Dima,” he quietly pleads before turning and following the others out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I made Byleth say riveting, all I heard was BDG in my head.


	8. Returning From a Dream

Blinking awake, Byleth wonders if he can speak with Dimitri again as he rises from the bed roll. Claude is already up, coaxing Lilith into some early morning banter. She reacts non-verbally, tilting her head and cocking her eyebrows while Claude chatters away. Annette and Mercedes giggle at the pair, whispering to each other while also watching as Sylvain torments Felix awake by peppering the sleeping man’s face with kisses. Ingrid ignores the red-haired man’s howl of pain when his partner jabs him in the ribs, instead watching eagerly as Dedue and Ashe fix up a quick breakfast for them to munch on while traveling. Stretching his arms above his head, Byleth winces when Dad walks past him, ruffling his hair as he goes to intercept Claude’s (mostly) one-sided banter.

Looking around the clearing once he’s done with his stretches, Byleth catches a flash of blue in the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he sees Dimitri disappear into the forest once again. Sighing through his nose, Byleth purposefully turns away from his soulmate, trusting that he’ll approach him again once he feels more confident.

“Alright. Today’s the final push into Winter. If the Prince isn’t there, then we’ll focus on the Sorceress and the Witch,” Claude calls, grinning widely at everyone gathered. Mercedes, Annette, and Ashe all cheer while Dedue seems to relax. Dad huffs out a laugh while Lilith looks to the sky for guidance. Felix groans as Sylvain leans on his partner while Ingrid climbs onto the back of her pegasus.

“Let’s just go,” the dark-haired man calls, turning toward the border.

* * *

Despite how often he traveled through Winter in his childhood souldreams, Byleth finds himself shivering from the cold and snow, no matter how bundled up he and the others are. Probably a left over from how sensitive he is to the cold in reality. Lilith would always hand him her extra clothes, leaving her in a thick sweater with a scarf while he waddled around in another thick coat with two winter hats and an extra pair of pants on. Glancing around, he sees how easily everyone around him is faring, causing him to grit his teeth and continue on.

“Shit, a snowstorm’s coming,” Sylvain calls in warning, pulling Felix closer to him. Byleth frowns at the warning and blinks. Immediately, he’s surrounded by white as the snowstorm roars around him, separated from the others.

“THIS IS BULL!” he bellows against the wind, trudging forward as best he can. The wind howls in return, pushing him harder and harder still, until he finally falls into the snowdrifts that have been building around him.

“Crap,” Byleth mumbles, trying to fight his way out of the snow, only to feel slower, stiffer, like he’s the one freezing instead of the snow around him. It gets harder to move, his joints too cold to properly bend. It’s cold. It’s cold. He just wants to be warm again. He wants to see his soulmate again.

“Dima,” he calls out weakly, feeling his body shut down on him. As he succumbs to the darkness, he wonders if he’ll wake up in reality or even at all.

* * *

The sound of a crackling fire rouses him, slowly opening his eyes to see where he is. The flickering light reflects off black-silver armor that the sleeping blond holding him wears. Byleth blinks, his mind catching up from when he passed out. Usually, Byleth would shove anyone clinging to him while sleeping off, but Dimitri is warm and big. Pressing against his soulmate, Byleth hums softly, his eyes fluttering back closed to bask in the warmth of his taller half.

“Beloved,” Dimitri mumbles, burying his face into Byleth’s hair. Humming again, Byleth nuzzles closer, only to tense and let out a rather un-masculine squeak when Dimitri’s large, warm hand finds his ass and gives it a soft squeeze. Dimitri tenses as well, before flinging himself back, face red and flailing as he sputters out apologizes.

“I didn’t mean- I only wanted- Beloved, please understand- I didn’t-” Dimitri sputters, his embarrassment betraying his angry, fierce appearance.

“You’re betraying your brand,” Byleth blurts, blinking in surprise along with Dimitri. They stare at each other before laughter bubbles up from Byleth’s chest and Dimitri joins easily. Their foreheads touch as they share their breaths, giggling like children as they continue to cling to each other. Once their laughter dies, they stay in their entanglement of limbs and hearts.

“I want to meet you,” Byleth admits, speaking softly out of fear of ruining this moment. Dimitri’s smile falls, moving his head to rest his chin on the top of Byleth’s head, spitting out a few dark teal strands.

“I fear I would cause more trouble than help right now. I could get you hurt,” Dimitri tells him. Byleth shakes his head against his soulmate’s throat, lightly smacking the dark armor on the other man’s chest.

“You don’t know that. And I don’t care. I want to meet you,” Byleth repeats, shifting until he can look at Dimitri’s blue eye. His hands slide up until he’s cupping Dimitri’s face, gently pulling down until they’re touching foreheads again.

“I just want you to wake healthy,” he whispers in the air between their mouths. Dimitri sighs, pressing his face against Byleth’s hands, practically melting against his skin.

“Beloved. Byleth,” Dimitri breaths against his palm, turning just enough to press a kiss against his hand. Byleth melts against the soft affection Dimitri is giving him so sweetly.

“Let’s focus on getting you warmed up,” Dimitri finally says, reluctantly pulling away from Byleth’s hand. Humming in agreement, Byleth shuffles closer to Dimitri, feeling a shiver run down his spine as the warmth from his soulmate barely touches him through their armors. Whining pathetically, Byleth tries to cuddle closer to Dimitri, only for the hard, cold armor they wear getting in the way. Chuckling, Dimitri presses a soft kiss to Byleth’s forehead, coaxing the teal haired man to close his eyes briefly. Between his eyes closing and opening, their clothing disappears as Dimitri pulls him closer.

“This is better, right?” the blond man asks, resting his chin back on the top of Byleth’s head. Byleth hums in answer, his fingers lightly tracing some scars on Dimitri’s chest as he soaks up Dimitri’s warmth. Slowly, idly, his fingers travel down, curious of the planes of his soulmate while simply relaxing in his arms.

“Please don’t tickle me,” Dimitri requests shyly. Humming again, Byleth stashes that little bit of information away as he continues his explorations. Upon arriving at his soulmate’s thigh, Byleth stops when something pokes back at his wrist. Reluctantly, but still curious, Byleth wriggles back a little to peek down, only to gape in surprise.

“That’s huge,” Byleth whispers, blinking down at the twitching cock Dimitri bares. The blond whines in embarrassment, pulling Byleth against him in an attempt to hide his erection. It backfires spectacularly, as their cocks line up and grind against each other. They groan at the friction, Byleth gasping as his cock slides to the side and allows Dimitri to grind against his hip for a moment before they re-align.

“So good,” Dimitri breaths, bucking against Byleth eagerly as he grips the teal-haired man tightly. Byleth whines at the feeling, wrapping his arms around Dimitri’s neck to pull the taller man down for a kiss. It’s messy and uncertain, like when they kissed for the first time, pulling moans and gasps while they are grinding against each other. Byleth keens softly against Dimitri’s mouth as he feels his orgasm build rapidly, arching into Dimitri’s questing hands. Those large, warm hands find his ass again, this time, groping and squeezing freely.

“Dima, more,” Byleth begs. Dimitri rolls them so the blond can tower over his soulmate, thrusting down against him until they both cum on their stomachs. Byleth gasps and twitches at the euphoria from his orgasm, keening when Dimitri reaches around to part his ass cheeks to prod a large finger at his entrance.

“Beloved, can I take you? If it’s alright. I mean you could-” Dimitri rambles, only to get cut off with a keen of his own when Byleth grasps hold of Dimitri’s semi-hard cock and gives it a pump.

“Please,” Byleth pleads. Dimitri growls, low and rumbling in his chest, causing Byleth to shiver as his arousal is easily reignited, rising off Byleth and presses against his ribs. Eagerly rolling onto his chest, Byleth raises his ass up for Dimitri to see. The blond man takes that as permission to massage his ass properly, spreading and pressing his cheeks together. Byleth gasps and moans, clawing at the cave floor as arousal spikes through him rapidly, his cock hardening again. He squeaks when he feels a slippery thing press against his entrance.

“Dima! Wait!” Byleth cries out, turning his head. He can only see the top of Dimitri’s head as the other man presses his mouth firmly against his entrance. Byleth keens again as Dimitri’s tongue breaches into his ass, flicking about and sloppily pressing against his walls.

“Fuuuuuuck,” Byleth breaths, pressing back against Dimitri’s face as his soulmate licks his ass, humming happily against the flesh. Eventually, Dimitri pulls back with a slurp, before prodding Byleth’s entrance with his cock.

“Deep breath, Beloved,” he growls into Byleth’s ear before pressing in. Byleth screams, the pain and pleasure mixing together to a potent feeling that he’s unsure of how else to respond to other than scream. Dimitri shushes him, stilling and pressing kisses all over the skin the taller man can reach, running his large hands up and down Byleth’s sides.

“I’m sorry. That was too fast, wasn’t it? I’m so sorry, Beloved,” Dimitri apologizes, pressing kisses across his shoulder. Byleth pants, focusing on breathing at the feeling of Dimitri’s (stupidly huge) cock pressing against his insides.

“Okay, okay. You can move. Carefully,” Byleth pleads, slowly breathing. Dimitri presses a kiss to his cheek before slowly pushing further into Byleth, apologizing with each inch. The teal-haired man gasps when Dimitri’s cock brushes his prostate, keening when the blond takes it as permission to start fucking him. The slow drag of his cock exiting and entering makes a delicious friction that makes Byleth’s eyes roll up into his head, dragging out a series of moans and pleas from the smaller man. Dimitri growls against Byleth’s back, his chest rumbling pleasantly against his naked skin.

“Beloved. Byleth. I love you, I _adore_ you. So good for me,” Dimitri pants into Byleth’s ear, his hand fumbling on top of Byleth’s before lacing their fingers. Byleth squeezes back as he arches up against his soulmate. Dimitri practically purrs, speeding up his thrusts while letting his other hand wander. Calloused fingers rub over his skin, lightly catching on the raises from scars and on his nipples. Byleth gasp, clenching around Dimitri, which causes another bout of pleasure to flood both of them.

“So good. Dima. More. Want you,” Byleth pants, his free hand reaching back to tangle into Dimitri’s blond hair. Using the grip on the taller man’s hair, he pulls him down for a filthy kiss, moaning as Dimitri goes faster, harder into him.

“Beloved. Byleth. Byleth,” Dimitri starts to chant, saying his name like a prayer as he pulls back and drags Byleth up, sitting him completely on Dimitri’s cock. The smaller man keen, clenching at the full feeling and gasping as his eyes roll back in pleasure. His arousal soars when Dimitri grabs hold of his hips and _uses_ him, rising him up and down the thick cock inside him.

“Gods. More, Dima. Dima. Dima,” Byleth chants, his head falling back onto Dimitri’s shoulder. The blond grabs his head, forcing him to look at his soulmate, before practically devouring his mouth. Byleth falls off the edge, screaming into Dimitri’s mouth as his orgasm courses through him. Two more thrusts and Dimitri follows with a roar, filling Byleth with his cum. They collapse to the side, Dimitri spooning Byleth contently, even going so far as to nuzzle against his teal locks. Catching his breath, Byleth blindly reaches for Dimitri’s hand, lacing their fingers once again when he finds it.

“Can you please return with me?” he asks in the silence of their afterglow. Dimitri hesitates, stopping abruptly as he nervously squeezes their joined hands.

“If… If you are by my side… I believe I can awaken,” he says softly, pressing his face into the back to Byleth’s head. Something warm blooms in Byleth at the admission, making his soft heart flutter like the butterfly he and his sister had raised as children. Lifting their joined hands to his mouth, Byleth presses a kiss against Dimitri’s knuckle before settling back against his soulmate, his eyes fluttering shut.

* * *

Opening his eyes to his room, Byleth rolls out of bed quickly, only pausing his motions to pull on his hoodie before practically running out of the apartment. The sky is dark, streetlamps lighting the sidewalk as he runs, the air escaping his mouth fogging with each exhale. The hospital is a beacon that Byleth uses to encourage him to sprint in, ignoring the yelp from the receptionist, the yells of security, or the shriek of Kronya. His feet devours the distance between himself and Dimitri’s room, skidding at each turn he makes. Stumbling a little, Byleth finally makes it to Dimitri’s room, throwing open the door to see his soulmate still resting in the bed.

“Dima,” he breaths, stumbling into the room and over to the bed. He inhales when the blond’s hand twitches. Leaning over the resting man, Byleth rests his forehead against Dimitri’s.

“Wake up, Dima,” he whispers, ignoring how security is arguing with Kronya while coming closer. When the small group arrives at the door, Dimitri blinks awake, smiling up at Byleth and raising his hand to run it through his teal hair.

“Good morning, Beloved,” he croaks, pulling Byleth down to hug him. Byleth lets out a happy sob, clinging to his soulmate happily while security and the doctors look at each other in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, would you look at that. I updated way too late... I'm sorry guys.


	9. Awake but Dreaming

With Dimitri awake, the doctors and security enter the room, asking questions and checking over his condition. Byleth is shooed out of the room, barely prevented from being forced to leave the hospital entirely due to Dimitri explicitly calling him his soulmate. None of the employees noticed Kronya fleeing the area, Byleth frowning as she disappears before he could follow her. However, while he waits for the all-clear from the doctors and security to re-enter the room, he wonders if he can catch up to her and demand answers. Thinking carefully, he decides he would rather spend the time it would take to sprint after her and potentially avoid a threat on his life to stay as close to Dimitri, who is finally awake, as is humanly possible.

After a good twenty minutes, security leaves the room, mumbling about gathering the paperwork to file a false soulmate claim. Ten minutes later, the doctors leave the room as well, giving Byleth small smiles and motioning for him to re-enter Dimitri’s room. He shuffles awkwardly forward as the doctors disappear around the corner, now nervous and uncertain if he’s wanted. While Dimitri is his soulmate, while the other man is destined for him, Byleth isn’t sure if the blond man wants to be around him when he could contact his father or his friends or…

“Beloved?” Dimitri calls, craning his neck to look at Byleth, worried tone luring the teal-haired man to enter the room. Despite the heavy bag under his uncovered eye and the IVs all around him, Dimitri lights up at the sight of Byleth, looking so much younger and making Byleth’s heart clench in affection. He walks into the room and slowly makes his way over to Dimitri, hesitating at the side of his bed. The blond beams up at him, raising his arm to entice him onto the bed, which works. Gingerly, Byleth settles beside Dimitri carefully, resting his head on the taller man’s shoulder. Dimitri wraps his arm around Byleth, carefully cuddling against his soulmate as they bask in each other’s presence.

“I’m sorry,” Dimitri blurts, startling Byleth. Looking up, he blinks curiously up at his soulmate.

“I… I didn’t contact you, or try to find you, or anything. I’m a terrible soulmate. I’m sorry,” Dimitri apologizes, looking down with a sad frown. Byleth huffs, shifting enough to tap his forehead against Dimitri’s.

“So? I didn’t either. Just as bad. But… we can be… better,” he argues, meeting the dark blue eye with his own mint green. Dimitri blinks before a tired smile crosses his face. Silence descends on them again. Fidgeting at the silence for once, Byleth flicks his eyes up to Dimitri.

“How long. Will you be here? Um, and. Your injuries. How are they?” he tries, his voice softening into mumbles. Dimitri hums, pressing his mouth against Byleth’s forehead. Slowly, he tells him all the injuries that still need to heal. His eye needs time to heal, then readjust to light, but he will get to keep it. His ribs need another two weeks in wraps and another two more to be completely healed. His leg will be in a cast for the next month and his arm will stay wrapped for another week. A smattering of cuts and bruises will heal within the next few days. He’s currently underweight and dehydrated, but he can recover.

“I’m sorry,” Byleth apologizes, resting his head against Dimitri’s neck. Dimitri turns his head to press a kiss against the top of his head.

“There’s nothing you need to apologize for. Although, I am curious as to why you came to the hospital at,” here Dimitri pauses to glance at the clock, “just after two in the morning.” Byleth flushes, embarrassed once realizing that he did, in fact, run to the hospital at two in the morning. However, remembering how Kronya and Cornelia talked about killing Dimitri, the answer is obvious.

“I was scared. They had talked about… Killing you. With the doctor’s help,” Byleth explains quietly, curling closer to Dimitri, almost protectively. The blond man inhales sharply, glancing down at Byleth with a wide eye.

“Kronya said that it would be difficult, that she did something like that before. Cornelia said she’d be fine. I didn’t wanna risk being too late,” Byleth explains, pressing his face into Dimitri’s throat desperately. His arm tightens around Byleth’s shoulders, silently giving him support. Slowly, they relax into each other, the soft beeping of the monitors and near silent ticking of the clock lulling them to sleep.

* * *

“Should we wake him or…?”

“Don’t care. Black mail.”

“Gimme the sharpie, I’m gonna draw a mustache on him.” Byleth blinks awake at the vaguely familiar and two very familiar voices talking around him. He squints at Sothis, who is frozen with a black sharpie in her hand, and Lilith, who’s holding up her phone with the slightest upturn of her mouth. Slowly looking around the room, he sees Lambert and Dad talking softly to the side, Rodrigue nodding beside them while Felix types away at his laptop, an older looking copy of himself leaning over his chair to point out something. Ingrid is scolding Sylvain about something while Dedue is knitting silently while Ashe dozes off beside him. Annette and Mercedes are also in the room, looking over the charts and speaking softly with Dimitri, who is lightly petting Byleth’s shoulder soothingly.

“What time?” Byleth rasps, turning back to look at his sisters suspiciously.

“Sour hour,” they reply in tandem, even as Sothis hides behind Lilith while sliding the sharpie into Lil’s purse. Byleth puckers his mouth on reaction, the hint of lemon crawling up his tongue even if he hasn’t had the citrus in months.

“You two are the worst,” he groans, burrowing his face back against Dimitri’s neck. A rumbling laugh from the blond settled against him, pulls a pout on his face. Shifting to look up at his soulmate, he pouts dramatically at Dimitri, only to squeak when the taller man arches his neck to press a soft kiss against his mouth.

“Gross,” Lilith deadpans while Sothis gags dramatically. Dimitri straightens up, flustered at being seen being physically intimate (even though Byleth’s sisters are the ones in the wrong here) only to stare in surprise at Lilth, or more accurately, her hair.

“What?” she asks, raising a teal eyebrow.

“I thought you had teal hair like your brother,” Dimitri blurts. Lilith stills and pouts, self-consciously toying with her mint green hair.

“Wanted to look different,” she explains away, curling into herself shyly. Dimitri sputters, flustered at potentially insulting his soulmate’s sister. Byleth huffs, motioning for his twin to sit beside him, giving Dad a smile from where he’s still talking to the other older adults. Twisting in Dimitri’s hold, Byleth grasps Lilith’s hand reassuringly. Her mouth twitches up, telling Byleth that she’s not upset.

“So, kid. I’m glad you’ve met your soulmate, but make sure to leave a note next time you have to leave in the middle of the night,” Dad teases, ruffling his hair before sitting in another seat. Lambert steps forward, hesitant as he looks between Byleth and Dimitri. Byleth rolls off the hospital bed, sitting calmly on his twin’s lap to keep holding Dimitri’s hand, barely blinking when Lilith wraps her arm around his waist. Dimitri’s other arm raises to Lambert, which the older man takes as a queue to swoop down to hug his son.

“My son, I’m so sorry,” Lambert sobs, pressing his face into Dimitri’s shoulder. Pulling the man closer, Dimitri shakes his head, blinking back his own tears.

“No. You have nothing to apologize for, father. Please, don’t apologize for what was never your fault,” Dimitri pleads. Lambert clings to his son, simply basking in the fact that his son is alive and awake. Byleth smiles at the scene, only to yelp when Lilith shoves him off her lap, forcing him to let go of Dimitri’s hand to not hurt his soulmate more.

“I gotta pee,” Lilith states in the shocked silence that followed, standing up and leaving the room. Byleth blinks then looks up, holding up a thumbs up and calling out, “Okay.”

“Are you okay, beloved?” Dimitri frets, peeking over the edge of his bed in worry. Byleth waves off his worry, sitting in the newly emptied seat and not blinking when Sothis settles onto his lap easily, her old, little red brick of a slide phone in hand. The nine-year-old sticks out her tongue in concentration, coding flicking on the screen from the “updates” Lilith put in and the aesthetic changes he helped make.

“So, the ugly lady and the uglier hag are the ones we gotta go against? With proof that they’re meanies?” she asks, looking up. Lambert and Dimitri blink while Byleth nods. Dad and Rodrigue wander over, Dad leaning over to squint at her phone, watching as the code she plays with shift.

“With the file we have from Rufus, we have a good amount of evidence, especially with that conversation your brother recorded them saying,” Felix mentions, looking up from his laptop. His older looking clone frowns, looking at the file and turns his eyes to Byleth. Byleth blinks at the blue eyes Felix’s older clone looks at him with, cocking his head to the side. While he knows the man must be Felix’s older brother, with how eerily similar they are to each other, he can’t help but think of the man as a clone.

“Felix, why is your clone looking at me?” he asks, ignoring Sylvain’s sputtering laugh and Ingrid’s confused noise. Dimitri snorts while Felix and said clone look over at Byleth in confusion.

“He’s my brother,” Felix clarifies.

“Well, why is your brother looking at me,” Byleth quickly amends, staring back at the older man’s eyes unflinchingly.

“I was wondering how you knew about this file. Even if you are Dimitri’s soulmate, you shouldn’t have been able to know about this file,” the man finally explains.

“Ah, that’s because I told him about it, when we finally spoke in the souldream,” Dimitri jumps in, trying to protect Byleth from accusations. Lambert, Rodrigue, and the clone’s eyes all flick up to the blond, causing something protective to flare in Byleth and causes him to grab his soulmate’s hand in reassurance.

“Why would you tell anyone that, even in a souldream? You know what someone could do if they knew even one file in our system,” Lambert scolds softly.

“Because you listened to Cornelia when you thought she was trustworthy, your entire system can be compromised by one person knowing one file in the system. You need to change your system to something more modern,” Lilith calls from the doorway, returning from her bathroom run. Byleth and Sothis both stood, letting Lilith sit before they sat on top of her lap. Sylvain looks at them in a combination of amusement and confusion while Ashe blinks awake only to squint at them.

“What are you doing?” he slurs drowsily, rubbing at his eyes while Dedue sets his knitting to the side, raising an eyebrow at the bizarre picture the siblings make.

“Sitting,” the family answers, Dad chiming in, not even blinking at the sight of his children sitting on each other. Dimitri chuckles at the siblings’ antics, which helps relax the tension in the room.

“So, Cornelia is in your system, trying to hunt down the file. But due to how it’s labeled, she can’t find it. How dumb is she?” Sothis asks, looking around curiously. Rodrigue’s mouth twitches up while Lambert laughs a little helplessly.

“It’s also got an encrypter on it that prevents all but a select few from finding it,” Lilith points out from beneath Byleth. Sothis makes a noise of understanding, before typing the word encrypter into her search engine. Instead of teasing his younger sister, Byleth turns with a frown to look at Lambert.

“Is there anything else we can do to help deal with Cornelia and Kronya? Because she could argue that this,” he motions at the gathering of people when he says this, “is a corporate move from an heir that feels like he’s not having enough power. Including the murder of Rufus, she can claim he’s lashing out.” Felix’s brother scowls at the point, crossing his arms.

“If she knows what’s good for her, she won’t,” he growls.

“Calm down, Glenn,” Rodrigue tells him, finally telling Byleth what the man’s name is. Dimitri frowns down at his covered legs when Sylvain crows out in victory.

“Sylvain! Quiet down,” Ingrid hisses. The ginger man ignores her, shuffling across the room to show Dimitri his phone.

“Looks like we just got some allies from Leicester Corp and Adrestia Inc. And boy, oh boy, do they have some dirt on our friends,” he cheerfully tells them, a huge grin on his face. The three siblings look up at him curiously, tilting their heads slightly, causing his chuckles of pride to turn a little hysterical.

“What the fuck?” he squeaks. Dad swats all three of their heads, snorting when they turned betrayed eyes up at him.

“Stop freaking people out with your sibling telepathy, brats,” he orders. Sothis whines while Byleth and Lilith nod sadly. Dad chuckles, moving to ruffle their hair. Sothis swats at his hand before looking at her phone screen and pumping her fist in victory.

“I got the loop,” she crows, holding her phone back for Lilith to look at. Byleth cranes his neck curiously while Lilith hums, tapping at the keyboard before nodding.

“Nice, that’ll buy us a few more days,” she says, handing Byleth the phone. Looking at the code, his eyebrows shoot up as he sees the all too familiar code that Lilith and Sothis would occasionally use on his filing system to mess with him when he’s doing homework. Clicking his tongue, he narrows his eyes and types in his own code, forcing the loop to randomly make and delete the empty folders, adding to the confusion.

“A little more,” he shows his twin, getting a nod from her before handing the phone back to Sothis. Their little sister looks at the code, practically beaming at the code.

“Anyway, Leicester sent us a few photos that they’ve compiled about seeing Cornelia interacting with a few of their employees, exchanging files that had gone missing along with a file summarizing the files and how they’ve been affected. Adrestia one upped them, because of course they would, and sent us a few videos of those employees with Cornelia and Kronya interacting with that one bastard the heiress and her bodyguard hate,” Sylvain tells the group. Dedue frowns, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

“Is there a chance that the photos and video are manipulated beyond making it easier for the people to be recognized?” he asks, wrapping his arm around Ashe as the smaller man dozes back off. Sylvain nods idly, tapping at his phone before looking at Felix with, what Byleth can only describe as, puppy dog eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll run it through a court approved reader,” the dark-haired man grumbles, his face pinkening while glaring at his laptop. Dad chuckles again, glancing at his watch before walking to the door.

“I’m going to go pick up some breakfast from Seteth and Flayn’s place. A bagel, a muffing, and a croissant, right?” he checks, looking at his kids. The siblings nod as one, causing Sylvain to let out another hysterical laugh. Dad laughs at the young man’s discomfort before leaving with a shake of his head. Byleth turns his head back to Dimitri, watching his soulmate speak quietly with his father in, what he believes is Russian. Gently pushing on Sothis, he rises off his twin to settle back onto the hospital bed to lean against Dimitri. The blond wraps an arm around him easily, like they’ve done this millions of times before.

“Do you think Cornelia will manage to evade the police with this extra evidence?” Dimitri asks the room, turning to look at his friends.

“I doubt it. With the backing of two other companies along with evidence that has been unedited, she’ll be dealing with at least ten years due to illegal goods being sold,” Ingrid points out. Dimitri sighs in relief while Lambert smiles, opening his mouth to speak when a loud shriek comes from outside the window. Lambert and Rodrigue immediately rush over to the window, both men paling and glancing back at Byleth and his sisters. Ignoring the gnawing fear and trepidation clawing at his stomach, Byleth stands from the bed, giving Dimitri’s hand a reassuring squeeze, before walking over to the window. Peering out, he sees more than enough before Lambert and Rodrigue push him back and start shouting to keep Lilith and Sothis away from the window. His throat closes up, his heart is pulsing in his ears, his stomach churns over and over, while the only thing that appears on the back of his eyelids are red, red, red.

“Beloved! Breath!” Dimitri begs, grasping Byleth’s hand and pulling him from his head.

“We need to go. Dad. He’s,” Byleth stutters out. Lilith’s eyes widen in understanding and, setting Sothis on the floor gently, takes off out of the room. Byleth stands and grabs Sothis’ hand, leading her out of the room.

“What happened? What happened to Dad?” Sothis pleads to know, fearfully looking up at Byleth. He can’t answer as Lilith is standing with a severe looking doctor, pale and trembling while the doctor looks at them sadly.

“I’m afraid your father is in the ER. There’s been a hit and run in the parking lot.”


	10. Completing the Puzzle

Watching his soulmate race out of the room with his siblings, Dimitri feels helpless in whatever distressed Byleth.

“What happened?” he asks, looking over at his father and Rodrigue. The others all look to the older men, curious and concerned with how his beloved reacted. The older men share a look, obviously unwilling to explain, but incapable of finding an excuse to not.

“Their father was hit by a car. They’re just now getting him from the parking lot,” his father explains, avoiding eye contact with him. Dimitri feels like someone just punched him in the gut. He wakes up, only for Byleth to suffer from, possibly, losing his father.

“Oh God,” Ingrid gasps, covering her mouth, while Felix scowls, his fingers moving faster over the laptop and banging on the backspace more often. Dimitri turns back to the door, desperately wishing he could chase after Byleth and hold the other man to reassure him. However, he’s confined to his bed, left helpless as his soulmate and his sisters suffer. Clenching his blanket, he focuses on breathing before looking over at Sylvain.

“Sylvain, can you see if security has a video of the car that hit him? See if we can find the person who did it quickly,” Dimitri orders. The ginger gives him a serious nod, his usual relaxed grin nowhere to be seen for once. Dedue rises and takes the seat the siblings had been stacked in just minutes before. The other man pats his shoulder comfortingly.

“I am sure they will be okay,” his friend offers softly.

* * *

Byleth isn’t okay. He’s sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair with Sothis and Lilith leaning against him from their chairs. Dad looked… horrible. His leg was wrong, his arm was wrong, there was too much red, and Byleth is sure he’s on the edge of an anxiety fit. Swallowing around what feels like vomit, his leg bounces nervously as the Doctors move behind the door of the ER.

“He’s gonna be okay, right?” Sothis asks, sounding younger than nine, sounding just as scared as she had been when they adopted her. Byleth can’t answer that, he doesn’t have the words (he never has the words), so instead he pulls her closer to him, rubbing soothingly at her back, and hoping she understands. Luckily, these past five years have let her know how he tries and she relaxes slightly under his arm, watching the door just as closely as he and Lilith are. Time creeps by, dragging them with it as they wait for news of their father’s health or his death. Byleth clutches Sothis closer to him, clutches Lilith’s hand and lowers his head in silent prayer to who or whatever is out there to let his father be okay. The door finally opens, the doctors looking relaxed but still worried.

“Are you his family?” one of them asks, Mercedes exiting the room with a soft smile on her face. Byleth nods while Sothis and Lilith look up. The doctor smiles at them, resting his hands on his hips.

“Well, I’ve got nothing but good news for you. Your old man in there will recover. Admittedly, it will take a while, perhaps even years, before he’ll be completely healed. However, he’ll be awake and cognitive in about a week. He’s very lucky that it wasn’t too severe,” the doctor assures them gently. They relax in the chairs, Sothis letting out a little sob of relief. Byleth squeezes her while Lilith slumps against him in relief, a small smile on her face.

“Can we see him?” Byleth asks. The doctor winces and gives them an apologetic smile.

“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to visit him until he’s moved into a different room. That should be in a few minutes though, so don’t worry,” the man assures them. Byleth nods, relaxing against his sisters in relief. They wait patiently for their Dad to be moved safely into a different room, following the doctors as they transfer Dad to a new room. At the sound of footstep, Byleth looks up to see Sylvain striding down the hall, a look on his face reminding him of the look Felix had back in the souldream. For a moment, Byleth can believe that the pair are soulmates, watching as the man strides toward them with a grin that promises someone pain.

“Guess what we found,” he sings, his grin promising misfortune for someone, hopefully not Byleth. Lilith cocks her eyebrow while Sothis blinks up at him, her eyes still red from crying.

“Is it the person responsible?” Lilith asks. Sylvain’s grin grows in size and maliciousness.

“Yep! And it’s a familiar lady,” he sings. Byleth inhales sharply, gritting his teeth as he looks at the red-haired man.

“Kronya?” he asks, snarling when Sylvain nods. The grin on his face doesn’t leave when he leans toward them.

“And, she broke out of the security room to steal a car after they cornered her to start the false claim paper work. So, we’ve got a criminal out there,” he sings, looking absolutely gleeful at this information. Lilith’s eyebrows rise up at how happy he is while Sothis sniffles and glares up at him.

“You shouldn’t be happy! That meanie is out there and she hurt Dad!” Sothis yells, moving from behind her siblings to kick Sylvain’s shin. Lilith sighs and looks to the ceiling while Byleth just picks up their younger sister, wincing as the red-head curses and rubs his shin.

“Sorry, she doesn’t realize that the police are now looking for Kronya to help us with pinning her for the crimes,” Byleth apologizes, feeling Sothis tense in his arms.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, pressing her face into Byleth’s shoulder. Sylvain waves her apology off, still rubbing at his thigh.

“So, what’s the call?” Sylvain asks, glancing at the doctor as he disappears into a room.

“He’ll be awake in about a week,” Lilith answers for Byleth, leaning against her brother easily. Sylvain relaxes at the news, his grin taking a more genuine happiness to it.

“That’s good. Dimitri was worried for you,” he tells them, unaware of the warmth that curls around Byleth’s heart at the knowledge that his soulmate cares. Lilith taps her head against his shoulder, taking Sothis from his arms and nudging him back towards where Dimitri is. Giving his sister a nod and his little sister a pat on the head, he jogs down the hall back to Dimitri’s room. He pauses to see the number on his Dad’s door, making sure to peek in the window to check on him. Dad is sleeping on the bed, wrapped up in gauze with a clear mask over his nose and mouth, helping him breathe. Feeling his worried gut unclench at the assurance of his Dad’s safety and survival, Byleth finally heads back to Dimitri’s room.

* * *

Dimitri frowns at Felix’s laptop, tapping carefully at the keyboard while looking over the information they were able to gather together about Cornelia. Felix and Ingrid are leaning near each other, planning to gather the board to prepare to officially out Cornelia and set her up for the police. Father sits in one of the chairs Dedue and Ashe abandoned when they left for their shift at the café, while Mercedes and Annette check over his charts and all the things connected to him. The door opens, and Dimitri looks up to see one of the most beautiful things in his life. Byleth, wearing a soft smile and happy light in his eyes, standing in the doorway, looking at no one but him.

“Dad’s okay,” he starts. Father and Ingrid both let out sighs of relief while Felix gives him a single nod. Dimitri moves Felix’s laptop off his lap, motioning eagerly for Byleth to lay beside him on his bed, longing for the other man’s warmth again. Byleth perks up, just as eagerly hurrying over to his bedside to lay beside Dimitri, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Dimitri’s face.

“Thank you, Dima,” Byleth whispers sweetly, relaxing against Dimitri’s side. Dimitri practically melts at the soft affection his beloved is showing him. Carefully moving his arm, he pulls his soulmate closer, pressing a kiss against Byleth’s forehead.

“Disgusting. Boar, cease in being gross,” Felix demands, scrunching up his nose. Dimitri flushes and sputters, burying his face into Byleth’s hair. He feels his soulmate turn his head and do something to cause Felix to sputter while Father laughs. Dimitri smiles as Ingrid giggles while trying to scold Byleth.

“Byleth, please, behave,” she giggles out, turning her head away from a scowling Felix. Dimitri chuckles at his friend’s reactions when Byleth turns his head and presses a soft kiss on his cheek. Blushing brightly, Dimitri sputter and flushes more when his soulmate takes the red in his cheeks as permission to pepper his face with kisses. He moves to kiss Dimitri properly when the sound of a spray bottle is heard and Byleth flinches. Dimitri blinks as his soulmate turns his head away, letting the blond peek around him to chuckle at what he sees.

“Behave,” Byleth’s twin deadpans, a spray bottle full of water in her hand and pointed at her brother. His little sister looks at them in disgust, her nose scrunched up in a displeased manner.

“I am aghast, I am insulted, I dedicate my life to our lord and savior Sothis and this is what I get?!” the little girl huffs, pointing at them accusingly. Dimitri blushes, then blinks when Byleth turns his head back to him and kisses him square on the lips. He faintly hears a disgusted shriek from Byleth’s little sister and pained groan from Felix, but he’s more focused on the soft warmth of his soulmate’s mouth. His lips are lightly chapped, with the faint taste of mint, as if he’s used a mint chapstick recently, and Dimitri wants more. Reaching his hand up and twining his fingers in those soft teal strands, Dimitri pulls Byleth closer to him, humming happily at the added pressure.

“Holy shit, that is not what I want to see when coming to see my soulmate’s twin and his soulmate,” Claude calls from the door, startling Dimitri and Byleth apart. Looking at his fellow heir, Dimitri narrows his eyes in irritation at the sight of both Claude and Edelgard. However, Edelgard is blinking at Byleth, looking very surprised before a happy smile crosses her face.

“I see you finally met your soulmate. I told you, you’d get it,” she says, sounding like she’s teasing someone, but Dimitri doesn’t remember having a conversation like that with his step-sister.

“I also remember you falling flat on your face after taking a swig of my beer during our celebratory break-up-slash-soulmate-finding party. So, I was going to take anything you said at that time with a grain of salt,” Byleth deadpans, getting laughter from Father and the others in the room. Edelgard rolls her eyes and scoffs, looking like an uppity princess, while Claude howls with laughter.

“Claude,” Lilith calls softly, and it surprises Dimitri to no end at how suddenly the other heir quiets, or how he softens when he sees the woman.

“Hey, Lil. Sorry about a few days ago. I had to get some intel,” he apologizes, straightening up and stepping forward, arms open in invitation. Lilith stands there, waving softly before leaning against the man, letting him wrap his arms around her. Dimitri blinks in confusion, looking between Claude and Edelgard curiously.

“How do you know them?” he asks, glancing at Byleth for an answer. His beloved blinks before pointing at Claude.

“Friend, classmate, and Lilith’s soulmate,” he explains before pointing at Edelgard, “Friend, ex-girlfriend, and pain in the ass.”

“Excuse you, I am _the_ pain in your ass,” Edelgard huffs, flipping pale brown hair over her shoulder. Claude makes a little noise of disagreement while Sothis lets out an exclamation of “Hey!”.

“You’re pain in the ass two,” Byleth disagrees, before pointing at his sister, who is still leaning against her soulmate, “she’s one.” Dimitri laughs while Father turns to chuckle. Ingrid shakes her head while Felix clears his throat, a smirk on his face. Claude and Edelgard turn to him curiously, the other man still holding Lilith while the brunette elegantly raises her eyebrow.

“So, what are you doing here?” he asks, finally cutting to the chase. Edelgard and Claude share a look that Dimitri recognizes as his fellow heirs planning to make someone’s life hell. The slow smile that crosses their faces makes Dimitri clutch Byleth closer while thanking all the Gods in the sky that they are working with him.

“Well…” Claude trails of happily while Edelgard pulls out her own laptop, happily pulling up a file that Dimitri can see has videos of Cornelia in them. A savage grin crosses his face at the evidence. They weren’t getting away with killing his uncle, selling illegal goods, and hurting his soulmate’s father. The clock has began to tick down for them, and he couldn’t wait for the explosion.


	11. End of a Chapter

Within a matter of hours, Byleth can safely say that they have a solid plan on how to take care of Cornelia and Kronya. Edelgard and Felix are gleefully sending all the evidence they’ve gathered, their energy some chaotic terrifying mix that he remembers Dad having when grading certain students from one class or another.

“Beloved,” Dimitri calls softly, tugging on Byleth’s sleeve. Turning easily in the bed, he looks up at his beautiful soulmate curiously. A soft blush is on the taller man’s face as he fidgets.

“I… I would like to know how… I mean… With El – I mean, Edelgard… Uh,” he fumbles for words. Byleth blinks, before he understands what his soulmate is asking.

“We dated during our first year of college. Despite that, it was more platonic than anything, with Edelgard using me to fend of the male gold-diggers and me using her to do social things when Lil was out with Claude. About a month before our second year, she met Dorathea, her soulmate. We broke up literally that night,” Byleth explains easily, shrugging. Dimitri mumbles out a noise of acknowledgement, drooping a little in obvious relief. Byleth huffs amusedly at his cute soulmate’s reactions, pressing a kiss against the blond man’s cheek. Dimitri sputters, flushing brightly as he looks away shyly.

“Aww, is wittle Dimi shy?” Claude coos teasingly, yelping when Lilith picks him up with a shake of her head. She walks to the farthest seat in the room, ignoring Sylvain and Ingrid’s laughter while Felix and Edelgard stare in surprise, before sitting down and holding Claude in her lap. She turns to her twin and gives him a thumbs up, which he returns eagerly. Lambert enters the room with Rodrigue and Glenn, having left to check on them in the main office, and blinks curiously at Lilith and Claude. She stares back at him without blinking, making him back off first.

“So, Jeralt will be fine. Dimitri will be released into the family practitioner’s care within the week. And we have more than enough evidence to kick out Cornelia,” Rodrigue explains. Byleth smiles at that, leaning his head against Dimitri’s shoulder. Dimitri laces his fingers with Byleth’s, raising their joined hands to press a kiss against Byleth’s ring finger. His face burns as he stares, wide eyed, at the prince charming forced to rest beside him.

“Byleth and Dimitri sitting in a-” Claude cuts himself off with a yelp when Lilith shoves him off her lap. Everyone stares at the couple for a long moment before Edelgard, of all people, finishes with, “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Excuse me, Dima. I have to kill someone,” Byleth deadpans before sliding off the bed and sprinting after a fleeing Edelgard while Lilith watches while keeping a hold of her own soulmate.

* * *

It was luck that Dad woke up on Christmas Eve, making a tearful Christmas morning while Sothis sobs against his hospital gown and both Byleth and Lilith squishing onto the bed to hug him. He laughed at they curl around him on the bed, the blanket Lilith had found and bought for him covering all four of them easily.

“Sorry for worrying you kids,” he apologizes, pressing kisses on Sothis’ forehead and the twins’ cheeks. None of them reply, instead just curling closer to him. Chuckling, Dad looks up to the small television playing in his room.

“…along with accusations of corporate espionage and back alley dealings, Cornelia has been accused of killing Rufus Blaiddyd. As opposed to the accusations she sent to Dimitri Blaiddyd, Rufus’ nephew and heir to the Faerghus Company, a few years ago, the accusations leveled against her also has evidence against her. There has been new evidence from video that was thought to have been deleted as well as records indicating that she interacted with Rufus during the time of death according to the coroner,” the reporter explains on the tv, a smaller screen playing footage of Cornelia hiding her face from paparazzi, ducking behind security guards to slip quickly into a black car.

“Bitch,” Dad snorts, getting soft laughter from his children as the reporter reappears on the screen, frowning seriously at the camera.

“Along with the accusations being leveled at Cornelia, her subordinate, Monica von Och, has been revealed to be a wanted criminal named Kronya. Her crimes include premeditated murders, grand theft auto, and multiple hit-and-runs, including one that occurred just a week ago. However, she is currently claiming to be the soulmate of Dimitri Blaiddyd, which, if confirmed by Mr. Blaiddyd, would allow her to be on house arrest within the Blaiddyd mansion. The Faerghus Company heir has requested a press conference to speak about his disappearance and these claims,” the reporter tells the camera, before shifting to a conference room. Dimitri wheels up beside the podium, his bandages removed from his face but wearing a slim pair of silver framed glasses. A fitted navy suit accents his form and his long bangs are pulled back to reveal his handsome face, leaving Byleth a drooling mess. His sisters giggle at him while Dad rolls his eyes and turns up the volume, watching as Dimitri slowly stands and limps to stand behind the podium.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press. It is an honor to stand before you once again, especially in a more joyous scenario than my father being in a coma. Before I open the floor to questions, I will explain why I fled, despite evidence pointing to my innocence. Cornelia was pushing for a quick, non-thorough investigation followed by my placement on death row. She had been paying multiple people to look the other way when the warrant for my arrest first released. I could not stay where she was able to manipulate people, leaving me with the only option to flee. If my father had not awaken from his coma, I’m certain that I would either still be fleeing or rotting in a cell. My father forced people to look at the evidence, to reveal that Cornelia was trying to cover something up with her accusation,” he explains calmly, barely blinking when the reporters started yelling questions at him. Sothis snorts, rolling her eyes as she slides off Dad to lean against Byleth.

“Didn’t he say no questions?” she asks. Dad snorts.

“The vultures don’t give a shit,” he intones, watching as Dimitri raises his hand, demanding silence in the room. Once the reporters quieted down, Dimitri continued, “Of course, another rumor currently going around is that Kronya is my soulmate. That is false. I was blessed to have met my soulmate and with their help, able to work with our allied companies to uncover those that Cornelia worked with. I will not tell the press who they are until they are ready, but know that my soulmate is not Kronya.” The room was in an uproar while Dad nods in approval, patting Byleth’s shoulder.

“Your soulmate’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Dad praises as Dimitri fields a few questions before leaving in his wheelchair. Byleth smiles and nods, before jumping when his phone goes off. Pulling it out, he blinks at the screen before a smile crosses his face.

**[unknown number]** : Hello, Byleth. This is Dimitri. I apologize for not contacting you earlier despite you giving me this number before I left the hospital.

Chuckling, Byleth texts back.

**[Byleth]** : No prob. You can just call me By. Just saw your conference. Good job

 **[Dimitri]** : Still, I should have contacted you earlier. Also, please let me know if/when you want the press to know about you. I shall do my best to keep you out of the spotlight.

 **[Byleth]** : Thnx babe

Byleth laughs when he gets a keyboard smash in reply.

* * *

While Dad heals and attends physical therapy, the Eisner family keeps track of the trials. Kronya was quickly arrested and put into prison for life without chance of parole. Cornelia was harder to pin with her crimes, at least she was until Lambert arrived with the records showing how she had entered Rufus’ office at the time of his death while Dimitri entered ten minutes later. The court quickly turned against her at that, with the recorded conversation from Byleth’s phone being the final nail in her coffin. The judge and jury gave her a life sentence as well, no chance of parole either. There was something satisfying at watching the normally composed woman lose her mind, screaming, begging, and threatening as she had to be dragged out of the room, spitting at Dimitri and Lambert.

“I hope they spay her,” Lilith comments, barely glancing up from the computer magazine Claude grabbed for her. Byleth snorted and texted reassurances to his soulmate while Sothis scrunched up her nose in confusion.

“I thought you spayed animals,” their younger sister pointed out. Dad chuckles as he supports himself on his crutches.

“Well, that lady isn’t really a human, so,” he trails off purposely, getting a noise of understanding from Sothis. Byleth ruffles her hair, snickering when she flails and swats at his hand. Lilith sighs, standing up from her chair while tucking the magazine under her arm.

“Are we heading home now, or stopping somewhere to eat?” she asks, flicking her eyes to her family. Dad hums thoughtfully before grinning.

“Let’s grab something to take home,” he says, leaving the room easily. Byleth and Lilith share an amused look while Sothis scrambles after Dad. The twins stroll out behind them, feeling more confident in what is to come.


	12. To the Future

Byleth opens his eyes in the bed chamber of the Winter Castle, blinking blearily at the mess of blond hair beside him. Humming, he brushes the blond hair away from Dimitri’s face to press a kiss against his forehead. Dimitri huffs in his sleep, pulling Byleth closer to cuddle with him. Chuckling, Byleth presses another kiss against Dimitri’s collar, grinning when his soulmate bucks against his naked thigh.

“Dima,” Byleth purrs, tracing his hand over his soulmate’s chest. The blond man groans, before rolling on top of Byleth, causing the him to squeak in surprise at the weight of his partner. Dimitri grumbles and curls around Byleth, burying his face into teal hair while still keeping him trapped under his weight.

“Dima, off,” Byleth sighs, deciding to forgo sex in exchange to not getting crushed beneath his lover. Dimitri snorts, shifting off Byleth only to pull him into the little spoon position. Huffing, he squirms out of his soulmate’s grip to crawl out of bed, finding Dimitri’s cape to wrap himself in as he leaves the warmth of the room for the chill of the balcony. The snow blankets the ground, leaving footprints of animals and servants on the ground. While still stupidly cold, the warmth from Dimitri’s cape was more than enough to prevent the permanent chill of the eternal winter from sinking into Byleth’s bones. Humming, he looks up at the clear sky, watching for any clouds that might roll over to release more snow. A pair of thick, warm arms wrap around his waist as a blond head of hair drops onto his shoulder.

“Beloved, why are you out here?” Dimitri yawns, nuzzling against his shoulder while blearily looking out at the snowy landscape. Snorting, Byleth reluctantly opens the cloak just enough for one arm to slide out and runs his fingers through Dimitri’s long hair.

“Wanted to not get cuddled to death,” Byleth teases, chuckling when Dimitri whines and presses apologetic kisses along Byleth’s neck and shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Beloved. I just reach for you even in the Dream’s sleep,” Dimitri apologizes, peering up at Byleth with his blue eye. Huffing, Byleth turns in Dimitri’s arms to rest his forehead on the taller man’s shoulder.

“It’s alright,” he assures Dimitri. The blond huffs, sneaking a hand under the cloak only to freeze at the feeling of skin. A smile crawls across Byleth’s face, flicking his eyes up from under his eyelashes as red crawls up Dimitri’s face.

“How about we go back to bed,” Byleth purrs, gently pushing Dimitri back into the bedroom, making sure to close the balcony doors behind him.

After a “morning” of sex, Byleth helps out with the soldiers of Winter, offering Ashe and Sylvain a small smile in recognition while sparing against Felix. Later, he eats lunch with Dedue, Mercedes and Annette. Afterward, Lilith and Claude arrive, dressed in golds and greens, talking to Dimitri and Byleth about helping Winter recover from Cornelia. Between blinks, Byleth finds himself back in bed, naked and panting as Dimitri thrusts into his ass, growling and groaning as he clutches at Byleth’s thighs resting on his shoulders.

“So good, Dima. More,” Byleth mewls, twisting his fists into the covers and arching off the bed with a high keen. Dimitri leans down, forcing Byleth to bend nearly in half, to demand a kiss of his lover. Lips slam together, teeth clicking near painfully, but it hurts so good. Byleth moans, releasing the sheets to twist his fingers into Dimitri’s hair, holding him close until orgasm shatters his concentration, causing him to throw his head back with a cry. Dimitri grunts, emptying inside Byleth while biting into his shoulder, before collapsing on his soulmate.

“Oh God, you’re too heavy. What do they feed you?” Byleth mock complains, shuffling out from under Dimitri to curl against his side. Dimitri chuckles, pressing kisses around Byleth’s face before letting his face get caught for a proper kiss.

“Whatever Dedue and Ashe decide they want to make,” Dimitri answers, smiling like a smitten fool. Byleth sighs, a smile curling on his mouth as he pets Dimitri’s hair. Abruptly, a thought crosses his mind and makes him groan.

“What is it?” Dimitri asks, worry on his brow. Byleth waves his hand while covering his face with the other.

“I just remembered that classes start when I wake up,” Byleth explains. Dimitri snorts, only for it turn into a full-blown laugh when Byleth grabs a pillow and starts hitting him with it.

“I’m sorry! Sorry! It’s just. You didn’t even react when you were called to court, but college can get you nervous?” Dimitri asks, grinning as he catches the pillow and presses a kiss against Byleth’s hand. Byleth groans, pulling the pillow back to cover his face with it, grinning into the material as Dimitri’s laughter continues to ring through out the room. Pulling the pillow down, he turns to look at how much younger Dimitri looks when he’s laughing. The other man turns his head to smile at Byleth when his laughter dies down.

“I love you,” Dimitri softly confesses. Byleth smiles, grasping Dimitri’s hand and pulling it up to his mouth, pressing a kiss against his knuckles.

“I love you too,” Byleth tells him, letting his eyes flutter shut.

* * *

Opening his eyes again, Byleth sighs as he sees the wall of his bedroom. Sitting up in his bed, he rubs at his eyes tiredly.

“Wakey-wakey, asshole,” Lilith calls while peering into his room, not even reacting when Byleth flips her off. Dad laughs from the kitchen, his crutches thudding against the floor as he makes breakfast. Sothis whines about something while Byleth drags himself out of his room, stumbling into the kitchen. Lilith raises an eyebrow at him, scratching idly at her roots, which she needs to touch up.

“You ready for the new semester, hell spawns?” he asks, chuckling as both his oldest groan at the reminder.

“Stop whining. I’ve already started my new semester,” Sothis huffs, sniffing like a posh woman, before getting distracted by pancakes. Dad snorts, shifting to settle into his seat, careful of his cast as he sits down.

“Now, Sothis. Behave,” Dad teases, ruffling her hair. Sothis huffs again, shoving a forkful of pancake into her mouth while Lilith and Byleth share an amused look with each other. Eating breakfast, Byleth checks his phone for what classes he has for the day. Seeing as he has an hour before his first class, he finishes his food and pulls on some clean clothes before grabbing his bag and heading out first, making sure to wave his phone so his dad and sister could see he had it. His phone pings as a text comes in. Leaving the apartment building, Byleth smiles at the two word text.

**Dima** : Have fun! <3

Shaking his head, Byleth focuses on safely arriving at the main building and getting to the small classroom his first class luckily sits in instead of the usual lecture hall. Sitting down, he pulls his phone back out to send off his own text.

**Byleth** : <3

 **Dima** : adejhfaw;je

Shaking his head, Byleth looks up in time to blink in surprise at the sight of Ashe.

“Hey!” the man calls, grinning as he sits in the seat behind Byleth. Turning in his seat, Byleth nods in greeting, pulling out his notebook and pens while watching as Ashe fumbles with a planner.

“Can I have your number or email? So we can hang out,” Ashe clarifies with a nervous grin. Byleth snorts, grabbing the planner and writing in the book.

“Also, we can collaborate about tests and homework,” he deadpans, grinning when Ashe laughs.

“Aw, am I invited?” Claude asks as he sits down beside Byleth.

“No, you still owe Lilith a date,” Byleth tells him, getting a snort from Ashe while Claude pouts.

“I don’t know where to take her, though. I don’t want to just take her to a coffee shop or a bookstore. And we’ve been to all the exhibits currently nearby,” he whines, splaying out on his desk.

“Sucks,” Byleth deadpans again as another person sits beside him. A familiar chuckle startles him, causing him to slowly turn his head. Long blond hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, a pair of glasses helping bright blue eyes see due to the scaring on the right one, and an adoring smile on his face as he looks at Byleth.

“Honestly, Beloved. You don’t hold anything back, do you?” Dimitri asks, sounding achingly fond. Byleth blinks in surprise, gaping at his soulmate sitting beside him, ignoring Ashe and Claude’s giggling.

“I think you broke him,” Claude jokes, reaching over to poke Byleth. Grabbing the finger, Byleth bends it in warning while a flush covers his face. When Claude lets out a whine, he lets go to turn and face Dimitri.

“I didn’t know you were going to be a student here,” he manages to choke out, feeling way too shy for having had sex in their souldream. Dimitri smiles back at him shyly, reaching his hand over to Byleth. He takes Dimitri’s hand without hesitation, lifting it enough to press a kiss against his knuckles. Dimitri beams at him, reluctantly letting go of his hand when the professor enters the room. Byleth turns back to the front of the room, feeling warm all over, even as the professor starts to inform the class of how much money they’re going to give the school for books they might not even need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for staying with me. I hope you enjoyed this story, even when I stopped my daily updates.
> 
> So, a little backstory about this story: I was originally planning to release this like a twelve days of Christmas along side my month of Claudelth, but I fell behind this and almost fell behind on my month. I chose to focus on the month over this, but I wanted to get this out. So, even though it's finished in March, the story takes place during an American College's winter break (so, about a month or two).


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